One in four employees don't feel secure in their current job and nearly half plan to explore new employment options in 2023, according to a new report indicating the great resignation is in full swing.
Over the past year, more than 4 million workers have quit their jobs each month, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The report, from HR management software provider Isolved, says the best way for employers to improve company culture and retain employees is to pay their employees market value.
"This is not surprising given that pay transparency laws have come to the fore and employers are being pressured to eliminate pay inequality within their organizations," Isolved said in its report.
"The data shows that employees are more anxious, burned out and worried about financial security than ever before," James Norwood, Isolved's chief strategy officer, said in a statement. "To combat these concerns, HR departments of all sizes need to assess what they can automate and gain efficiencies, improve what they can to enhance the employee experience, and amplify the impact of their team."
Isolved's research agrees with a second report from online job site Hired. He revealed that attracting, hiring and retaining top talent has proven challenging, particularly in the last six months of 2022, as volatile market conditions have led to significant changes in the hiring landscape.
I have solvedAccording to Hired, inefficient hiring processes, riddled with disconnected stages and layoffs, have plagued companies for years, exacerbating hiring problems by undermining hiring pipelines and causing candidates to defect. And as more companies slow down or suspend hiring, flawed processes could allow top talent to be overlooked.
Hired also cited employee burnout as a major challenge, blaming rapidly changing work environments and angst for layoffs and hiring freezes.
In November, nearly a dozen major companies announced layoffs: Amazon, Meta, Cisco, and HP announced layoffs that affected thousands of workers. Experts believe the layoffs, which have been going on for three months, are mainly due to poor hiring strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of those now laid off were hired by panicked managers concerned about the talent shortage caused by the Great Resignation and increased digitization efforts.
Hired CEO Josh Brenner said his company's data shows that the tech talent market remains incredibly strong for companies that are actively growing and hiring. "What is critical is that these companies remain committed to fair, efficient and transparent hiring practices in this ever-changing macro environment," he said.
Unemployment in the tech industry is near a record low; last month it fell from 2,2% in October to 2%, according to CompTIA, a nonprofit association for the computer industry and workforce.
“The better-than-expected tech jobs report confirms that there are still far more employers hiring tech talent than they are dumping it,” said Tim Herbert, director of research at CompTIA. "It's certainly premature to dismiss concerns about the health of the economy, but that should be a reassuring sign for the tech workforce."
For its report, Isolved surveyed just under 1000 full-time U.S. employees across various industries in the fourth quarter to find out how employers can improve the employee experience in 2023. Isolved, which has approximately 145 employer clients worldwide, world, he said teams needed to improve. internal communications, invest in better training opportunities for employees and offer more flexible working conditions.
I have solvedThis is Isolved's third annual survey of worker concerns and attitudes. In last year's study, nearly half of employees (47%) said they were tempted to apply for a new job in 2022, just as they were in 2021 (52%).
"A logical reason for the persistence of high churn is that employees don't feel financially and emotionally supported at work," Isolved said.
Of the 37% of respondents who actually applied for a new position in the last year, 60% subsequently changed jobs, Isolved said. Reason number one: 62% wanted a higher salary; 32% were looking for better benefits (32%); and 25% wanted more job flexibility.
I have solvedOne of the possible reasons for continued high turnover is that employees don't feel supported to move up the ranks in their organization. According to Isolved, 21% believe there is no room for growth within their company and 59% believe their employers could do more to advance their careers.
"Employers recognize that the best way to get the most out of employees is to invest in developing their skills," Isolved said. room for improvement."
The lure of remote work
About seven in 10 employees (68%) who can work remotely say they expect to work from home more often than before the pandemic, according to a future of work survey conducted by Forrester Research earlier this year.
Even so, some companies, including large corporations like Goldman Sachs, are demanding a return to the office. These kinds of moves could lead to conflict.
“In 2023, we foresee sharp confrontations within companies that are not listening to and engaging with employees to develop hybrid workplace policies,” Forrester said. "Compliance with internal office policies is already sketchy at best, and the threat of attrition looms."
As the economic uncertainty of a possible future recession enters the "anywhere" calculation, Forrester expects 40% of hybrid work companies to try to roll back their remote work policies, essentially telling employees to go to work. office more often.
"Don't be one of the 50% of companies that will fight their employees and suffer a loss of productivity due to social unrest," Forrester warned in his report.
Hired's report, "2022 List of Top Employers Winning Tech Talent," highlighted US and UK companies that have earned the right to hire and retain employees.
Here are the best small, medium and large companies in North America and the UK, according to Hired.
In North America:
- Best Small Business: Camino
- Best Midsize Company: Devoted Health
- Best Company: Google
In the United Kingdom:
- Best Small Business: Thriva
- Best Medium Business: Zopa Bank
- Best Company: EF Education First
"We evaluate all companies active on our platform based on three core values identified as essential for employers to attract, hire and retain top talent: fairness, efficiency and transparency," Hired said.
North American businesses, from startups to large corporations, have been fairer and more efficient this year than they were in 2021, and many have reduced the time it takes to hire and onboard an employee.
Remote hiring, including finding workers outside of traditional tech hubs, has widened the talent funnel for companies and improved their ability to quickly find and expand job seekers before the competition; this was especially true in previously saturated markets.
North American small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the top 10 stood out for their use of diversity targets, with companies sending 15% more interview requests to underrepresented candidates than in 2021.
Hired noted the following issues and recommended that companies address them over the next year:
- Transparency: Several states in the United States, as well as the United Kingdom, have passed or will pass laws requiring companies to disclose or publish their salary scales. Better salary transparency could help close the pay gaps between underrepresented applicants and their white male counterparts.
- Equity: Mass layoffs have disproportionately affected HR employees and DEI teams, threatening to undo years of progress toward fairer company cultures and hiring practices.
- Efficiency: Ineffective recruiting processes have long threatened recruiting efforts. A company's hiring pipelines and employer brand are still under threat in 2023.
Copyright © 2022 IDG Communications, Inc.