84% Indian employees are increasingly optimistic they will get the chance to develop and upgrade relevant career skills in the next 12 months. There has been an improvement of 3% from the previous quarter.

This was the finding from a Job Confidence Index Q3 survey by global recruitment specialists Michael Page, which drew a comparison between responses of 580 employees in India and 4,200 employees across the Asia Pacific.

In addition, 59% of respondents in India were found to be “satisfied to very satisfied”’ in their jobs as compared to 53% of their Asia Pacific compeers. Confidence in the Indian economy is also high, with the Index indicating that (53%) employees in India rated their current national economy as “good to excellent”, notably higher than in Asia Pacific (33%).

Other highlights from the quarterly job confidence forecast in India between Q2 and Q3 2016 include:

• Employees in India were more optimistic about compensation levels in the next 12 months (71% in Q2 to 73% in Q3), career promotion (67% in Q2 to 68% in Q3) as well as work-life balance (from 51% in Q2 to 53% in Q3).
• When it came to job hunting in India, strong interest to develop new skills (43% in Q2 to 47% in Q3) was the key driver ranking ahead of salary (38% in Q2 to 41% in Q3) and work-life balance (38% in Q2 to 36% in Q3).

See: Hiring Expectations of Indian Employers Continue to Remain Strong in Q4 2016

• In a city by city comparison, job satisfaction levels of employees in Delhi declined quarter-on-quarter. Delhi fell from 62% in Q2 to 50% in Q3 but otherwise rose in other major cities Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. Mumbai rose from 51% in Q2 to 59% in Q3, Bangalore from 68% in Q2 to 75% in Q3 and Chennai from 58% in Q2 to 78% in Q3.

Nicolas Dumoulin, Managing Director, Michael Page India, says, “Workplace sentiments and confidence ranks very high in India right now. A majority of job seekers foresee progression in their career. With the right work attitude and legitimate reasons for job hunting, companies have a very high chance of securing talent with a very close match to their requirements.”

“Newly-implemented HR policies can also help employers meet expectations of millennials who are increasingly becoming an important part of the Indian workforce.”

Also read: Millennial Work Ethics: Reshaping the Workplace of the Future in India

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