Indian Workforce is the Most Mobile in the World – Ma Foi Randstad Work Monitor

Indian Workforce is the Most Mobile in the World –
Ma Foi Randstad Work Monitor
New Delhi, Thursday, March 11, 2010 – Ma Foi Randstad, India’s largest HR services company, part of Randstad, world’s second largest HR services company released the first wave of their Ma Foi Randstad Work Monitor today.

The Ma Foi Randstad Work Monitor is a quarterly review of “mental mobility status” of employees i.e. their readiness to change jobs. As part of this process, the state of mind of workers is studied in 23 countries across 5 continents, compared amongst countries and finally presented in the form of an index. The index shows the extent to which employees are thinking of changing their jobs in a short-term while compared to other countries in the world.

Apart from the Mobility Index, the survey deals with trust of employees in the job market, fear of job loss, job change and readiness to change in job. In addition to these 4 aspects, the survey also covers related aspects like satisfaction levels and personal motivation levels of the employees.

Below are some of the key insights from the Work Monitor:

Mobility index:

• India’s mobility index is 140 and the highest in the world followed by Mexico, China and Turkey. And the lowest mobility among Luxembourg, Italy and Hungary. This index shows that Indians are most open about shifting their jobs in the next 6 months.

• People in the age group of 35 to 55 are comparatively less open about a job change. This trend is quite different in countries like China and UK where the highest mobility is in the age group of 25 - 34. For Germany and the US, we see high mobility index amongst age group of 18 – 24.

• Again, highly qualified people have exhibited lesser mobility than others in India. This trend is different in countries like UK, US and Germany.

• Employees in the salary bracket of Rs. 5 – 10 lacs are the least mobile in India while in the US; the professionals in junior to mid career (USD 45000 – 50000 salary brackets) levels are the most mobile. Similarly, in the UK, mid to senior level professionals (GBP 52000 – 87000) are highly mobile.

• Employees in Bangalore are the most mobile in India which means that they are most open for a job change in the next 6 months.



Factual job changes:

• The 8 reasons for employees looking for change. These are - organizational circumstances, better employment opportunity, personal desire for change, personal ambitions to get into senior levels of management, personal ambitions in specific areas, personal circumstances, dissatisfaction with present employer and employer being dissatisfied with employee.
• Mobility in the last few months was largely affected due to economic crisis. There has been extremely limited movement due to lack of better opportunities in the market. For most of the young employees, mobility has been due to their personal desire for better careers and ambition; dissatisfaction with the present employer played a lower role in their mobility.
• In the recent past, most people in the age group of 25 to 34 have changed jobs for better employment opportunities.
• Looking at a salary wise comparison, the major reason for job change in the higher income brackets is due to organizational circumstance.

Trust in market conditions:

• Over 80% of the Indians are certain about finding a different job in the short-term. The people aged 25 to 44 are confident of finding jobs in the short-term. However, the younger people in the age group of 18 – 24 exhibit slightly low levels of confidence.

• In the US, confidence level of people in age group of 25 – 44 is the highest. And in the UK, the confidence is high for the age group of 18 – 34.

• People in the private sector are more confident of finding jobs within or outside their industry compared to those employed in the govt sector.

Fear of job loss:

• The economic climate over the past few months has led to a greater fear of job losses across the globe and it is more common in the western world.

• 15% of the employees are more frightened about the job loss. And an additional 57% exhibit partial fear. This situation has been unprecedented in India.

• Interestingly, China shows similar figures too. In countries like US, UK, Germany where job losses are not a new phenomenon, 7% to 10% of the workers are certain about losing their jobs in the short-term.

• City-wise comparison in India show that people in Chennai are the most frightened about the job loss. People in the age group of 35 – 44 fear the most about job losses and people with mid-level qualifications (typically graduates and undergraduates) are more worried about losing the jobs than the others.

• In the US, people in low level skills category and mid-level professionals are the most frightened about job losses. In the UK, 49% of highly qualified people are worried about job loss.

Readiness for new job:

• 80% of the employees in India are open for a different job.

• People in the salary bracket of Rs. 5 lacs – 10 lacs are certain that they are ready for a different job.

• People employed in the govt sector are most open towards a different job (but may not be outside the sector).

• People in the age group of 35 to 55 are more ready for a different job than the others.

Satisfaction level:
• In India, people above 45 years of age are more satisfied than the younger lot. People in the age group of 25-34 are the least satisfied.
• Professionals in salary bracket of Rs. 5 – 10 lacs per year are the least satisfied while those earning more than 10 lacs per year and less than 90,000 per year are relatively more satisfied.
• Satisfaction amongst female employees in the age group of 18-24 and 25-34 is higher than their male counterparts.
• Highly qualified professionals are more satisfied than others. This could be due to the development opportunities and work related challenges that such professionals get in their jobs.
• Professionals in Mumbai and Chennai are more satisfied than their peers in other cities. People in Mumbai are the most ready for a new / different job while people in Chennai are the least ready. This reflects the level of activities and opportunities in the city as perceived by them and the social forces that they deal with in their daily life to change the status-quo.
Personal motivation:
• One of the major reasons for workforce mobility is the lack of personal motivation. This is broadly measured by two parameters: Focus on Promotion and Need for doing something new. It is found that the largest percentage of the workforce population is highly focused on promotions.
• When probed further, it was found that employees in the lower age group are more focused on promotion. This may be attributed to the fact that younger talent aspires to earn and grow faster. However, the level sharply varies with age. Employees above 44 are less focused on promotions and usually feel more motivated by other benefits.
• When the individual’s focus on promotion with his/her income levels are compared, it is found that employees in the salary bracket of less than 90k per annum are not so driven by focus on promotion. This is largely due to the fact that these jobs are low on skills and has limited room for growth. The focus on promotion increases with the increase in salary.
• The second aspect to personal motivation is the opportunity given to start something new. Over a third of the employees surveyed are found having a strong motivation to do so. People in the age group of 25 to 34 feel this need the most.
• Male employees have a greater desire for doing something different.
• Two key characteristics for employees to qualify for promotions in their organizations –
a) Individual positioning i.e. how an individual is positioned in an organization – 85% of the respondents agree that being a central point for a team helps them get promoted in their own organization or accept another job.
b) Openness i.e. how an individual is allowed / encouraged to share opinions with others in the organization - again over 80% of respondents feel the same.
Commenting about the findings of the Work Monitor survey, Mr K. Pandiarajan, Managing Director, Ma Foi Randstad said, “We hope that the report contributes to enhance the understanding of employee sentiments for the organizations in India. In addition, this survey over a period of time will guide the employers to direct their efforts to align their workforce and raise engagement levels to optimize profitability.

I am confident that Ma Foi Randstad’s Quarterly Waves will be able to identify trends and insights for macro-economic planning in our labour policies.”

About Ma Foi Randstad:
Ma Foi Randstad is an international HR service provider servicing world class companies across the globe. Started in 1992, the company has grown into a full spectrum HR services provider for clients worldwide. It has helped generate career opportunities for more than 2, 80, 000 individuals in 36 countries and has worked for over 250 Fortune 500 organizations.
Ma Foi Randstad offers the broadest HR services portfolio ranging from Search, Selection, Staffing, Consulting, Outsourcing and Training. The organization has a vast network of offices across the country to be within reach of candidates and flexi workers.
Ma Foi Randstad continues to focus on developing customized and innovative HR services, leveraging on its unique strengths of geographical presence and end-to-end capability across all HR service functions.
About Randstad:
Randstad specializes in solutions in the field of flexible work and human resources services. Our services range from regular temporary staffing and permanent placement to inhouse, professionals, search & selection, and HR Solutions. Since acquiring Vedior in 2008, the Randstad Group is the second largest HR services provider in the world with top three positions in Argentina, Belgium & Luxembourg, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Greece & Cyprus, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, as well as major positions in Australia and the United States. End 2009 Randstad had approximately 25,500 employees working from over 4,100 branches and inhouse locations in 44 countries around the world.
Randstad generated revenue of € 12.4 billion in 2009. Randstad was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Diemen, the Netherlands. Randstad Holding NV is listed on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam, where options for stocks in Randstad are also traded. For more information see www.randstad.com