A quarter of Singaporean employees seek new jobs in 2020
- Daniel Teo
- Topics: Asia-Pacific, Home Page - News, News, Singapore
2020 is set to be a tough year for employee retention in Singapore as about a quarter of Singaporean office workers intend to jump ship.
According to a report by recruiter Robert Half, a staggering 27% of the workforce in the republic plan to look for a new job in 2020 while 61% of the rest say they would be open to a new job if being headhunted.
The report, which surveyed 1000 office workers in Singapore, further shows that job hopping is more prevalent among the millennial workforce.
Office workers were asked “Do you plan to look for a new job in 2020?”. Their responses:
| Total | Age | |||
| 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
| Yes | 27% | 37% | 34% | 15% |
| Maybe | 46.5% | 44% | 45% | 35.5% |
| No | 26.5% | 19% | 21.5% | 49.5% |
Office workers were asked “Would you be open to consider a new job opportunity if you would be approached by a hiring manager/recruiter?”. Their responses:
| Total | Age | |||
| 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
| Yes | 61.5% | 68% | 57% | 46% |
| No | 38.5% | 32% | 43% | 54% |
Matthieu Imbert-Bouchard, Managing Director at Robert Half, believes job hopping has become a trend and the challenge for companies is not just about attracting talents, but retaining them as well.
“While attracting talented professionals in a skills-short market is challenging, retaining employees is equally as challenging. Job hopping has become more common, especially with millennial employees who tend to switch jobs on average every three to four years,” he said.
“In order to secure the best talent, many businesses are actively targeting and trying to poach professionals from competing organisations. Employees are generally open to discussing new career opportunities, even when they are not actively looking for a new job, further highlighting the challenge of retaining staff in a role.”
He also believes that companies need to rethink their recruitment and retention strategies to tailor them to their employees and talents.
“Employers need to work on their attraction and retention strategies in tandem as the same qualities that can attract top talent can also act as barriers to existing talent moving to a competitor,” he said.
“Employers can carve a competitive point of difference from other organisations who are fighting for the same top talent by learning what motivates their most valued employees and customising their recruitment and retention strategies.”
