March 31, 2010: Over 40% of India’s workforce will quit their current jobs within the next six months. A reviving economy also brings with it immense expectations from appraisals this year. Employees are already mentally prepared to move out of their organisations, industry and even plan to switch functional areas for better job prospects.
Carrying forward the disillusionment of 2009
The disillusionment of 2009 for Corporate India is now being articulated by employees across the board. Over 40 % of the over 20,000 employees’ surveyed plan to quit their current jobs within the next six months.
According to a survey conducted by TJ Insite, the knowledge and research wing of TimesJobs.com, India’s leading job portal, employees across age & experience groups are planning to switch jobs, either within their own industry or even outside for better job prospects.
“For HR managers, this is an important point to be flagged” remarked Mr. Vivek Madhukar, VP, TimesJobs.com “You must be ready to loose your good workers not only to competitors within your industry but just about anybody in the jobs market.”
The survey also reveals that almost 50% of the workforce does not see significant salary hikes within their current organisation. Most also do not see salary hikes within their current industry, even employees with upto 20 years of industry experience.
These findings came after surveying over 20,000 employees from across the country in various organisations, functional areas and industries.
Tough Road of Attrition Ahead
Freshers and mid level managers, who were most affected by the market downturn of 2009, have no qualms about moving out of their present industry for better job profiles and salaries. Workforces in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai especially, were found to be looking at job switches outside their current industry.
Almost 60 per cent of the workforce currently employed with Manufacturing, Automobiles, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and call centres is planning to change to jobs outside their industry. However, those employed with Construction, Information Technology (IT) Software were looking for job shifts within their own industry.
Besides switching across industries, the Indian workforce is also looking at changing their job specialisations or functional areas. About 60 per cent of those considering a job switch also indicated seeking a change in their specialised functional areas.
The top Aspirational specialisations that jobseekers in India are looking at include:
Production and Manufacturing
Accounting, Engineering
Administration
IT/Telecom – Software
Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)
Supply Chain Management
Human Resource and Training
Salary – driving the jobs market
Salary levels and job security are major concerns for the workforce today.
Salary is the main driver pushing a majority of the workforce to look for new job opportunities. However, once they decide to move, the main consideration is the new job profile that they are moving to.
“Apparently, the economic slowdown and the upheaval in the jobs market have taught jobseekers some tough lessons” added Mr. Vivek Madhukar, “Earn as much as you can today, but if you are looking at a long professional working life, look for those job profiles that remain in business during tough work cycles- seems to be the mindset.”
Retaining star performers and sales teams is going to be a big challenge for HR managers this year with most jobseekers indicating they want a change of industry as well as functional area.
In fact, Sales do not feature in the top 10 functional areas of choice any more, with 95% of the workforce surveyed giving it the thumbs down. Market-related variable incentives are giving way to a more reliable structured salary hike.
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About TJ Insite –
TJ Insite is the knowledge and research wing of TimesJobs.com, India’s leading job portal, owned by Times Business Solutions Limited.
It conducts regular research on recruitment trends, compensatory valuations, jobseeker & recruiter expectations. These will be analysed into structured research reports, customised content and reports for industry and the HR fraternity.
TJ Insite will be offering the following services:
1. Content & Editorial: generate structured content related to recruitment & compensation for newspapers, magazines and the interactive media.
2. Market Reports: Detailed well-analysed market reports to service industry and HR.
3. Customised Reports: Structured data collected on prescribed formats and structured into specialised market reports.
4. Knowledge Events: Creating spaces for the industry to interface with jobseekers, policy makers and the HR fraternity.
TJ Insite generates data, analyses and insights that can service the requirements of HR professionals, administrators, researchers, corporate HR, financial planners, and most importantly the common jobseeker.
Research provided by TJ Insite will cover the pan-India region.
For more information contact us at research@timesjobs.com or contact Renu Arya, Research Coordinator at 97170 95249.
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