Optimism about Singapore’s employment market is rising among the country’s professionals as a majority or 67% of professionals in the country are likely to leave their current role for better jobs in the coming year. This is not good for businesses though as it will likely lead to an increase in staff turnover.
According to findings in the 2015 Michael Page Singapore Employee Intentions Report, more than a third of surveyed respondents view the current employment market with optimism as 36% of professionals rate the market for available jobs as good. This forecasts significant employee movement, with 67% of surveyed professionals either quite or very likely to leave their current role in the coming year.
Citing reasons for their plans to change jobs, 25% of respondents list career progression as their top priority and 23% list an increase in salary as the main motivator.
“Generally there is quite a bit of optimism for Singaporean employees at the moment, but we do forecast churn in the local job market,” says Andrew Norton, Regional Managing Director, PageGroup South East Asia. “This optimism reflects Singapore’s employment growth, however employers will need to implement strong retention strategies such as succession planning and financial incentives to hold on to their top performers and prevent high staff turnover.”
Attraction and retention strategies offered by companies will need to be competitive, as 73% of employees have indicated they attended job interviews with another company in the past 12 months.
Sixy-one percent of surveyed employees have not received a promotion within the past two years and 69% of employees indicate they will not ask for a promotion in the next 12 months.
The biggest concern for Singaporean employees is the cost of living, as 51% of survey respondents reveal concern about their salary against living costs. This is a significant increase from the 2013/14 Singapore Employee Intentions report findings where only 38% of surveyed professionals listed the cost of living as their main concern.
Aligned with this concern, 31% indicate a salary expectation of a 16% or more increase on salary in a new role.
“Financial rewards are still the most popular attraction and retention tool based on employee responses,” says Norton. “Employers are at risk of losing their best performing staff if they do not offer their employees financial incentives to stay.”
Almost a third of survey respondents (32%) list financial rewards as the main reason they would remain in their current job and 23% list an increase in salary as their main benefit they are seeking in a new role.
Half or 55% of surveyed professionals reveal they intend to ask for higher compensation within the next 12 months.
news source & image credits: enterpriseinnovation.net
