Today's Edition
A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
More workers are now looking to change their employers in the next 12 months than during “Great Resignation” phase of 2022, says a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey.
The survey, which is the fifth in a series dating back to 2019, interviewed 56,000 workers in 50 countries. A total 28% of workers surveyed said they are looking forward to changing their jobs as against 19% in 2022 and 26% in 2023. This signals a continuation of the “Great Resignation”, a trend that was widely commented upon when it first emerged 2022.
PwC’s latest “Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey” says more than half of the workers feel there is too much change happening at the workplace, and 44% of them do not even understand why things need to change at all.
The findings send out mixed signals about the state of the workplace. While a large number of people are ready to embrace new technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), many others are reporting increased workloads, pervasive job security, and financial struggles.
Even a change that is perceived to be positive by employees can be stressful. The survey finds that nearly two-thirds of employees say they have experienced more change at work in the last year than in the 12 months prior, and one-third of workers say they have experienced four or more significant changes at work in the last year, including to their team structures and daily job responsibilities.
GenAI has made it to the workplace in a big way, and is seen to be disruptive to existing systems. A total 40% of respondents who have used GenAI in the past 12 months say it will fundamentally change their profession in under five years.
Although 61% of workers say they’ve used GenAI at work at least once in the past 12 months, far fewer are using it on a daily or even weekly basis. Only 12% of respondents in the survey used AI daily, while 16% used it once in a week, and 8% used it once in a month. A total of 25% said they used it once or twice in their entire working life, while a whopping 37% said they have never used it.
Employees’ perception of GenAI is notably more positive than negative despite its disruptive nature. More than 70% of employees in the survey who have used GenAI agree that the tools will create opportunities to learn new skills at work, be more creative at work, and improve the quality of their work. And half of all adopters expect GenAI to lead to higher salaries-an expectation that’s even higher among those who use GenAI daily.
Upskilling has become so valuable to employees that they see it as a company differentiator. Almost half of employees say that having opportunities to learn new skills is a key consideration when it comes to their decision to stay with their employer or leave for another job.
Pete Brown, global workforce leader at PwC UK, said employees are placing an “increased premium” on organisations that invest in their skills growth, and so, businesses must prioritise upskilling and employee experience.
Carol Stubbings, global markets and tax and legal services leader at PwC UK, said employers must invest in staff and tech platforms to mitigate pressures and retain talent.
What’s more, employees who are likely to leave may be more attuned to change than the general workforce: 51% moderately or strongly agree that the skills their job requires will change in the next five years. Fewer than half (46%) of workers surveyed say they moderately or strongly agree that their employer provides adequate opportunities to learn new skills that would be helpful to their career.
Unsurprisingly, the top factor employees say will help them do their jobs better is fair pay for performance. Of the 82% of workers who rated being fairly paid as very important or extremely important, less than three-fifths moderately or strongly agree their current job provides that.
Employees also ranked flexibility and fulfilling work as highly important. As with pay, however, there’s a gap between those who say those factors are very or extremely important, and what they’re actually experiencing.
