The Great Resignation wave is ending

SINGAPORE: A year after acute talent shortages let workers call the shots over job picks, salaries and working conditions, power has trickled back to bosses – just not totally.

A survey by Milieu Insight for The Straits Times showed that 68% of Singaporean workers were more likely to stay put in their jobs, a sharp reversal from 2022, when multiple surveys showed a majority of local workers – some as high as seven in 10 – planned to quit work within six months.

Its findings mirrored what recruiters are seeing – that the pandemic-induced Great Resignation phenomenon is ending, with attrition rates returning to, or even dipping below, pre-Covid-19 levels.

“We should reach an equilibrium unless there comes a sharp change in economic conditions,” said Sim Gim Guan, executive director of the Singapore National Employers Federation.

The online survey that Milieu conducted over March and April polled 1,000 workers each in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The reversal in workers’ sentiments is not surprising, given that many employees have been with their current employer for less than 18 months since the ebb of the pandemic, said Peta Latimer, president of global consultancy Mercer Asia.

“Additionally, factors such as increasing inflation, the rising cost of living and the return of travel demand have reinforced the need for job security and stability among workers,” she added.

The resignation rate in Singapore has dropped to its lowest point in the last 10 years, excluding 2020, when the pandemic was at its worst.

Still, Singaporean workers are the most restless in South-East Asia, with 32% of them mulling over a job change, against 28% for the region. Job vacancies hit a 10-year peak in 2022, at 5.1%.

Such a large number of available jobs is encouraging some job seekers to actively look for better prospects, said Latimer.

“In addition, there is a prevailing belief in Singapore that moving between organisations can lead to faster vertical progression in terms of both pay and job title, especially at the junior and mid-level management positions,” she noted. — The Straits Times/ANN