Mercer’s 2022 global talent trends study—The Rise of the Relatable Organisation, businesses across Asia are still tuning into shifting employee needs to rethink ways of working, upskilling and well-being to drive their success.
Talent attraction and retention are of top concern for executives across the region with seven in ten executives saying they are facing a labour shortage crisis. This is most pronounced in Japan and Mainland China. 97% of companies reported a significant skill gap within their organisation despite 95% of employees reporting they had recently learnt a new skill.
Despite providing opportunities to reskill being at the top of many of HR’s agendas, 37% of HR professionals responded that they were having difficulties keeping up with the pace of change and emerging skill needs. 36% were also concerned about identifying employees with the most potential to effectively leverage new skills whilst 35% were concerned that upskilled talent will leave their organisation.
The good news is that HR leaders in Asia are looking to build skills internally to address the talent crunch rather than acquiring talent. They are also seeing the greatest impact from targeted learning investments and experiential learning through internal rotations.
The study highlighted the labour shortage from an employee perspective with 70% saying that not being able to work remotely is a deal-breaker for them with a third willing to forgo a pay increase in order to be able to work flexibly.
Furthermore, one in two Asian employees believes the future of work is about balance and are seeking to fit work around life and no longer life around work. Compared to 2020, employees today say they are more likely to stay with their employer due to life-related factors including flexibility and time off, compared to work factors such as career progression and development.
Asian employees are also feeling less energised than ever before with eight in ten employees at risk of burnout. In Hong Kong, 95% of workers feel at risk of burnout this year. Despite the collective fatigue, only one in four executives and HR leaders in Asia view employee exhaustion as a threat to their business’ transformation plans or a driver for attrition.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
