Randstad’s 2012/13 World of Work Report highlighted imminent skills shortages and concern with talent retention, limited succession planning and inflated leadership expectations
This year’s Randstad World of Work Report gathered opinions from 9,800 employers and employees across the Asia Pacific region – including 540 business leaders in Hong Kong. Despite unemployment being at its lowest level for 13 years, the aging population coupled with a low birth rate suggests Hong Kong is heading towards talent scarcity in the not-so-distant future.
Skilled workers in demand
The report surmises that although turmoil continues in the financial sector, demand for talent currently remains strong in areas such as risk management, compliance and information services as well as for highly skilled workers who will drive the next wave of innovation and productivity in Hong Kong’s service-led economy. The skilled jobs categories include; business development, technical and sales roles, digital and social media experts, innovative leaders and analysts.
Gaps uncovered
Of those employers surveyed, 68% expect skilled-knowledge workers to make up the majority of their workforce in the next five years. However, less than a third are confident that government initiatives will deliver the skills required, and less than half expressed confidence in the education sector’s ability to deliver these skills. Indeed, a third of organisations cited ‘filling critical vacancies’ as a key productivity challenge, implying that positions are either being left open or filled by less than ideally-qualified staff. To meet the talent scarcity employers are looking to increase contract staff, recruit on other flexible arrangements or recruit from overseas.
Holding your own
Almost 60% of the Hong Kong workforce surveyed said that they would leave their jobs in 2012. Nearly half of businesses cited lack of opportunity for advancement as the reason for this and only 18% cited dissatisfaction with pay. Some organisations are conducting ‘stay interviews,’ with a view to tackling employee dissatisfaction before large-scale retention issues ensue. Companies are advised to look towards their value proposition and see what really matters for their employees.
Looking to leaders
Almost all employees say inspirational leadership is important to very important when considering a new employer yet only 45% of employers rated their current leadership capabilities as ‘good’ and an alarming 4% rated them as ‘excellent.’ Furthermore, over two-thirds of employees also felt concerned about their senior management pipeline, indicating succession issues in the years ahead. This where only a tenth of companies surveyed plan for a two year horizon and over a half spend 10% or less of their strategic planning time on the workforce. Brien Keegan, Director, Randstad Hong Kong commented, “Workforce planning is not purely a numbers game. It’s about ensuring your organisation is talent ready…for today, but also for the future.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
