World – Majority of employees believe regularly upgrading skills and competency is essential to enhance employability

By memberservices@staffingindustry.com (Danny Romero)

The majority, or 90%, of employees believe in regularly refreshing their skills and competencies to enhance their employability, according to data from Randstad’s Workmonitor Q3 2017.

The monitor showed that this belief is highest in China (98%) and lowest in the Netherlands (67%). Meanwhile, on average, 74% of the global respondents agree that they are realising their full potential in their current jobs. In Greece and Malaysia, 90% of respondents agreed, while in Japan 55% of respondents agree.

When it comes to staying aligned with developments in their field, employees in India (97%) are happiest, while in Japan only 56% feel they are keeping up to speed.

“These low scores in Japan may be explained by the fact that the Japanese tend to be pessimistic and discreet,” Takashi Matsui, head of Randstad Research Institute Japan, said. “They often avoid saying ‘yes’ if they’re not 100% sure about something.””

The monitor also showed that in general, employees believe that keeping their skills and competencies up to date is their own responsibility (91%). In Mexico, as many as 99% of respondents believe this, while in New Zealand, 75% agree.

Moreover, 75% of global respondents feel they need more training and/or education to stay up to date, with 71% looking for more vocational training and 49% for training of personal skills. The data from the monitor also showed that job-related skills are in highest demand in Mexico (89%), while the monitor recorded the greatest need for developing ‘soft’ skills in Singapore (78%), India (73%) and Malaysia (70%). France scored 16% on the need for more training in general.

Over the past 12 months, 71% of global respondents say they have done some training activity to upskill themselves in relation to work. The lowest score (32%) is again found in Japan.

“There is a deeply rooted seniority culture at Japanese companies,” Matsui said. “Employees are basically promoted with age, and people generally believe that investing in skills will not increase income or career development. Our long-hour working culture may also play a role.” The monitor added that training activities are also relatively scarce in France, where 55% took part in a training activity over the past 12 months.

Globally, 66% of respondents indicate that job-related training activities are offered and paid for by their employer. The percentage is highest in India (85%), while Japan again scores lowest (42%). Overall, 67% of employers state they would be willing to do pay for job-related training, with the highest percentage in Mexico (96%) and the lowest in France (43%) and Japan (41%).

Randstad recorded a mobility index score of 109 for the third quarter. This means the number of employees worldwide expecting to be employed elsewhere in the coming six months remained stable compared to the previous quarter. Mobility was up most in New Zealand (+7), Hungary (+6), Australia (+5), and France (+5). The biggest decreases are found in China (-7) and the US, Norway, Sweden and Greece (all -5).

Actual job change remained stable at 23%. Compared to last quarter, job change increased most significantly in Hong Kong (+6%), Turkey (+5%), Mexico (+4%) and Switzerland (+4%), while it saw the biggest decrease in the US (-5%). Meanwhile, at 47%, job change in India is even higher than in the previous quarter, with 34% changing employers and a further 13% changing positions at the same employer

Compared to the previous quarter, the desire to change jobs increased most in Denmark, Malaysia and Sweden, while it decreased most in Mexico, the Czech Republic, the UK and Norway. Meanwhile, compared to last quarter, job satisfaction increased most in Denmark (from 79% to 83%). Denmark is now the second-most-satisfied country behind Mexico (85%). Job satisfaction decreased in Australia and is lowest in Japan (42%).

Randstad’s study is conducted online among employees aged 18-65, working a minimum of 24 hours a week in a paid job (not self-employed). The minimum sample size is 400 interviews per country.

Source:: World – Majority of employees believe regularly upgrading skills and competency is essential to enhance employability