Kiwi employees overqualified for current jobs

Forty percent of Kiwi employees feel overqualified for their current job, as revealed by specialist recruitment & HR services company, Randstad.

The Randstad Workmonitor Q3 2012, which surveyed employees from 32 countries including New Zealand, also found the New Zealand Mobility Index has significantly increased from 102 to 112 indicating that, compared to previous quarters, confidence is rising and more employees expect to be changing jobs in the next six months.

The global Mobility Index has also increased to 107, largely owing to better employment conditions (38%), personal desire for change (32%) and organisational circumstances (28%).

Director of Randstad New Zealand, Paul Robinson says that despite ongoing global volatility and the current economic challenges both in New Zealand and abroad, there is movement in New Zealand’s employment market.

“The changes and challenges in our economy mean skills shortages are still present or re-emerging in many industries, and finding the right people for the job in this market remains an issue for many organisations.”

Mr Robinson adds: “The Randstad Workmonitor shows Kiwis are now actively looking for other roles and employers must be aware of the risk of losing their talent. As finding the right people with the right skills is proving ever difficult, there needs to be a renewed focus on retention and development of key staff.”

“Recent reports have stated that business confidence has increased in New Zealand, with forecasts showing business conditions will improve over the next 12 months. This, together with a lift in consumer confidence, may be the reason for the recent increase in the Mobility Index, and renewed optimism.”

Mr Robinson says in talking to employees, genuine development opportunities, training and work-life balance play an increasingly large part in a successful employer-employee relationship.

“Clearly Kiwis are now searching for other opportunities, however there are internal factors that employers can focus on to help prevent this. Offering flexible work options and creating an individual career path that enables each employee to grow and develop their skill set will aid workplace retention.

“In other research we’ve conducted, the top reasons why people stayed with their employer were: feeling secure in their job, working for a financially stable organisation, good work-life balance, an opportunity for growth and being well matched to their job.

“Knowing what’s important to people and communicating these features and benefits to current and potential employees will assist with successful attraction, retention, engagement and management of talent in the workplace,” says Mr Robinson.

Hard to find the right talent

Globally almost 60% of respondents say their employer has difficulty finding the right person for the job. New Zealand is above the global average, with 65% of respondents stating this.

Finding highly qualified people is an issue for almost half of employers globally. In Greece, Italy, Spain and Denmark only a third of the employers face this problem with a lot of highly trained talent still available. In New Zealand, 52% of respondents found their employer had this problem. Finding low skilled workers is not a big issue (27% on average), although more challenging in China (47%), Malaysia (39%) and Japan (35%). New Zealand is below global average at 22%.

Expected shortages

On average, 47% of respondents worldwide expect a shortage of highly qualified people within the next three years. These numbers run much higher in Hong Kong (67%), China & India (65%) and Malaysia (64%). Czech Republic (34%), the Netherlands and Denmark (33%) have less employees expecting a shortage of highly qualified staff. New Zealand perception was on par with the global results at 47%.

Although finding lower skilled workers seems less of an issue, 34% of employees globally and 33% in New Zealand still expect to see shortages in this segment within the next three years. China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and India (all between 50-60%) expect shortages of low skilled staff as well as highly qualified people.

Career opportunities

Overall, more than half of respondents state their employer invests sufficiently in additional training and education as well as career opportunities. In New Zealand, 63% of respondents stated their employer invests in training and education, with 56% stating they are offered sufficient career opportunities.

Exceptions are Japan (40%), Greece (39%) and Hungary (36%), where fewer employees believe their employer invests sufficiently in their development. The best career opportunities can be found in Hong Kong, India and Malaysia (73%). In Spain, Slovakia, Greece, and Hungary employees feel the investment in career opportunities is not sufficient.

Global Mobility Index up to 107

After a small dip the global Mobility Index increased to 107, indicating that compared to last quarter more employees expect to be changing jobs in the next six months. The index increased in Turkey, Argentina, Brazil and Hong Kong. The Mobility Index showed a significant increase in New Zealand to 112. Only in Poland expected mobility declined.

The number of employees actively looking for a new job has risen in China and Mexico. In New Zealand there’s been a shift from not actively to actively looking for a job. Reasons to look for a new job are: better employment conditions (38%), personal desire for change (32%) and organisational circumstances (28%).

Employee confidence: slight improvement

Confidence in finding a comparable job has increased in Luxemburg and Hong Kong and declined in Poland. Confidence in finding a different job has increased in France, Sweden and India and declined in Turkey. Significant fear of job loss has declined in several countries (the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico and Malaysia). But it has increased significantly in Hungary and Hong Kong. Moderate fear of job loss has increased in Turkey and Malaysia. Fear of job loss has increased to 20% this quarter, compared to 13% in Q2 2012.

Job satisfaction

As in previous quarters, employees from the Nordics are the most satisfied in Europe. For Sweden there is even an increase 65% to 75%. Belgium and Malaysia showed an increase in satisfaction as well. New Zealanders are on par with these attitudes coming out of Europe, with 70% of employees stating they are satisfied within their current roles.

Employees in Hungary, Spain and Greece are the least satisfied. Switzerland, the UK and Turkey showed a decline in level of satisfaction. Outside Europe, India and Mexico rank highest in satisfaction. Employees in Brazil are significantly less satisfied compared to last quarter.

Personal motivation

Italy, Luxemburg and France have the most ambitious employees in Europe. Compared with last quarter, employees in Germany, Turkey and Poland are less focused on promotion. Outside Europe, the most ambitious employees can be found in Mexico and India. Japanese employees are least focused on promotion. In New Zealand, 60% of respondents stated they are focused on getting a promotion.