Over a third of employees (37.36%) in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia are planning on leaving their companies soon, in the coming six months of this year.

According to the 2017 Randstad Employer Brand Research report, disgruntled employees held similar sentiments in Singapore and Hong Kong with around 38% planning to leave. Malaysian employees were only slightly less anxious to leave their jobs with around 35% looking for new career opportunities.

Demographic profiling revealed that young male employees across all three markets were the most likely to leave their job.

When looking at the reasons behind why people were planning to leave, poor salary and benefits along with a lack of career progression opportunities were the two primary factors in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The third largest factor in Singapore and Malaysia was lack of appreciation from the management. The third largest factor for Hong Kong employees to turn their backs on their employers was poor workplace atmosphere.

While sentiment remained fairly homogeneous across all demographics and markets, younger employees held stronger concerns around their salary and benefits.

See: 49% Employees in Malaysia Plan to Quit Jobs to Give a Shot at Entrepreneurship

Michael Smith, Managing Director, Randstad Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia noted, “While organisations look at improving their employer brands to attract the best new talent into their ranks, management needs to be wary of the high risk of losing their staff. Our latest research highlights the unsettling number of employees planning to leave their jobs in the near future. This reinforces the need for organisations to not only look out for new talent, but also seek inwards to ensure the retention of their best staff. Research has shown that the cost of replacing a lost employee can be very high in terms of time and money.”

“While bringing in talent with great salaries and promises of career progression opportunities, organisations must not rest once those individuals have settled in. These companies must consistently monitor the advancement of these factors as the individuals grow within the organisation,” added Mr. Smith.

The Randstad Employer Brand Award, previously known as the Randstad Awards, is presented each year to the most attractive employer in 26 countries across the globe. It is based on the outcome of one of the world’s most representative and inclusive research into employer branding, covering over 160,000 global respondents.

The 75 largest companies are selected in each participating country, usually with more than 1,000 employees. In Singapore and Hong Kong, over 5,000 employees and job-seekers between the ages of 18-65 were surveyed. In Malaysia, over 4,500 were surveyed.

Also read: Uncovering the Real Reasons on Why Employees Quit Jobs

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