More re-evaluating life, career amid ‘Great Resignation’

PETALING JAYA: The ‘Great Resignation’ phenomenon has hit Malaysia, with about 80% of employees here considering switching jobs, according to a survey by an employment marketplace.

The JobStreet survey conducted last December found that jobseekers were re-evaluating what they wanted from the workplace, based on the flexible work arrangements they had enjoyed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This echoes what has been happening in developed economies, where skilled workers especially are switching jobs or quitting entirely if they cannot keep their flexible work arrangements, which has been dubbed the Great Resignation.

JobStreet managing director Vic Sithasanan said employers would need to adapt to stay competitive.

“The solution is for employers to be a pioneer in meeting these expectations, with the focus on preparing instead of protecting employees,” he said when contacted.

In a separate report, Randstad Malaysia head of operations Fahad Naeem said the pandemic had allowed workers to reconsider their work-life balance and long-term goals.

“While compensation and benefits remain high as a career consideration, many Malaysians are now prioritising job flexibility and want to have a sustainable working environment where they can thrive,” he added.

A survey by Randstad Malaysia also found that the number of people switching their jobs in the second half of 2021 had increased to 38.6% from 30.3% in the first half.

The Second Half 2021 Workmonitor survey was conducted in September last year with at least 800 respondents.

Four out of five respondents said the pandemic provided opportunities to reconsider their life priorities and career goals.

The findings also showed that the top three reasons respondents changed their jobs were due to organisational circumstances (42%), better employment conditions (29%), and personal ambition in the management field (29%).

Sixty-four per cent of respondents said they wanted a safe work environment, 52% wanted the opportunity to do meaningful work, and 49% preferred job flexibility to accommodate commitments outside of work.

It is time for employers to rethink how they treat their talents.

JobStreet’s Sithasanan suggested upskilling and reskilling programmes for employees, among others.

“Similarly, there should also be a focus on the holistic well-being of employees, consisting of not just physical health but also mental health. This can come in the form of competitive wages, flexible working arrangements and investments towards health precautions, among others,” he said.

Sithasanan added that a separate JobStreet study called ‘Decoding Global Talent (Malaysia edition)’ conducted in 2020 identified remote working as one of the key factors driving today’s jobseekers.

The study conducted by JobStreet and parent company SEEK in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group and The Network was one of the world’s largest surveys of its kind to date.

In Malaysia, the study analysed feedback from 5,649 respondents with findings showing that those in digital and knowledge-based jobs, along with traditional office jobs, increasingly adopted remote and hybrid working models during the pandemic.

“Similarly, the digitalisation and automation industry showed an increase of more than 90% for those who intended to work completely remote and on-site combined,” he said, adding that the figure was 60% before the pandemic.