Changing work attitudes
Prolonged pandemic is forcing firms to deal with new expectations as younger workers shape the future
It’s been more than two years since the coronavirus pandemic swept through the world, bringing far-reaching economic and social impact to lives and society in general. One major shift has been a change in employees’ attitudes towards work.
Last year, 47.8 million Americans, or nearly one in five non-retired US adults, voluntarily quit their jobs. That was nearly 34% higher than the 35.8 million who left their jobs in 2020 when the pandemic began, and 13% more than the 42.2 million who quit in 2019.
The phenomenon has been dubbed the “Great Resignation”, and it’s continuing into 2022.
Although figures released by the US Bureau of Labour Statistics show that the monthly number of voluntary resignations has been dropping from a peak of 4.5 million in November 2021, the total in the first seven months of 2022 has already exceeded 30 million.
The reasons for the unprecedented wave of people leaving their jobs are manifold. It appears that the trauma of Covid-19 has taken a toll on the physical and mental well-being of many people and prompted them to rethink their lives, values and priorities. Many in the US are no longer willing to accept work hassles or tolerate the kind of working conditions they have been putting up with.
This is also occurring in Asia. Official figures for the region are unavailable but there are many anecdotes, especially among the younger generation, of people quitting their jobs, some even before finding new ones. This has been happening for some years now.
PricewaterhouseCoopers surveyed nearly 18,000 Asia Pacific-based employees earlier this year and found that one in five intended to resign in the next 12 months, according to the consulting firm’s Asia Pacific Workforce Hopes & Fears Survey 2022 published in July.
Unsurprisingly, pay is the main driver, cited by 68% of respondents. But the next three most important considerations, picked by 58%-64% of respondents, are related to seeking a sense of fulfilment in the workplace, being their authentic selves at work, and care for their own well-being.
Japanese workers rank at the bottom of the satisfaction scale in Asia Pacific. Only 28% of respondents in Japan said they are “very” or “moderately” satisfied with their jobs, followed by South Korea (34%), Hong Kong (36%), Singapore (43%) and Taiwan (46%).
By contrast, 30% or fewer respondents in Thailand, India, Indonesia and China are dissatisfied with their jobs.
Satisfied, but quitting
Meanwhile, in the financial sector, 77% of companies are experiencing higher than average turnover, according to Mercer’s Global Talent Trends Report 2022 published in April. This is especially the case among younger employees, reported by 52% of companies, and those with valued digital skills, cited by 37% of firms.
One point of particular concern in Mercer’s findings is that over one-third of those planning to leave in the next 12 months are satisfied with their current employers. In other words, employee turnover is happening in spite of high job satisfaction.
A LinkedIn study suggests this is a phase of the “Great Reshuffle.” In September last year, the professional social networking platform tracked members worldwide who posted recent job changes on their profiles and found a 54% increase from 2020.
Spurred by the unprecedented period of uncertainty and anxiety triggered by Covid-19, millions of workers are leaving to look for jobs that give them the right pay, a better work-life balance, and a workplace that is more aligned with their values.
“Yes, people are resigning, but most of them aren’t leaving the workforce. Instead, they are finding new jobs where they have more freedom, or make more money, or enjoy the work more; or, in some cases, all three,” according to the LinkedIn study.
The charge is being led by Generation Z. LinkedIn’s data shows that 80% of Gen Z (18-25 year-olds) changed jobs, followed by millennials (26-41 years) at 50%, and Gen X (42-57 years) at 31%. At the other end of the scale, only 5% of baby boomers changed jobs.
To be sure, factors such as the stage of their career and the state of the job market have a strong bearing on the attitude of the different groups on changing jobs. But it’s evident from these studies and many others that the values and priorities in work/life considerations are changing between generations.
Lying flat, quiet quitting
Two nuances related to employees’ changing attitudes towards work have also emerged and gained extensive traction.
The Mandarin term tang ping, which translates to “lying flat”, started appearing on social media in China around April last year and rapidly went viral across the nation. According to the Baidu internet forum, it essentially means doing the bare minimum to get by and refraining from striving for goals embraced by mainstream society.
Instead of the traditional mindset of striving to study hard, get a good job, buy a house, raise a family, and so on, a subsection of the society now considers such things as not worthy of their energy and focus, choosing instead to lie flat.
China’s rapid growth over the last two decades to become the world’s second largest economy after the US has given rise to a work-is-life culture in many organisations and people.
Jack Ma, co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, is a case in point. He has been hailing the virtue of the group’s so-called “996” working culture, where people toiled from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. “I think it is a huge blessing that we can work 996,” Ma famously said in a speech to employees in 2018 which was streamed on social media and sparked an uproar. The work practice was ruled illegal by China’s top court in August last year.
Covid-19 hasn’t made the overwork culture in China any easier because people need to work even longer hours to make up for lost productivity from multiple lockdowns, travel bans and unfilled vacancies. Lying flat is a counterculture against the crush of life and work in the fast-paced society.
Similarly, a Tik Tok video advocating the concept of “quiet quitting” has been making waves across countries since it was posted in July this year, and has also caught the attention of mainstream media. It encourages people to stop going above and beyond their job duties, and to do the bare minimum at work for the sake of their mental health.
To be clear, quiet quitting doesn’t involve exiting a job. “You are still performing your duties, but you are no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentally that work has to be our life,” the TikTok creator says in the clip. “The reality is, it’s not, and your worth as a person is not defined by your labour.”
It is the continuation of an ongoing movement of re-evaluating how work fits into our lives and resetting work/life boundaries. Covid-19 has intensified the need to make those choices, and many people are now taking a stand.
The new norm
Hybrid work models that offer flexible arrangements combining on-site and remote work will likely become the new normal in the post-pandemic word.
According to the PwC survey, two-thirds of employees across Asia Pacific who can work remotely prefer hybrid work. This is also echoed in Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index, which shows that 66% of Hong Kong employees want to retain flexible working arrangements. It also found that almost the same percentage of business leaders in the city are already planning to redesign offices for hybrid work.
This is all occurring at a rapid pace against the backdrop of a shrinking workforce due to ageing populations and intensifying competition for talent globally. How companies respond to these changing dynamics will play an important part in shaping the long-term strategic success of their businesses. It is a challenge, but also an opportunity.
Companies and business leaders will need to respect the expectations of their employees, and shift away from over-emphasising job performance. This requires a complete re-thinking of company culture to attract, retain and manage talent.
Many of these expectations are not new but the prolonged pandemic has accelerated the momentum of change, and they will be increasingly critical as younger employees play a more significant role in the future of a company.
*This article was published in Asia Asset Management’s October 2022 magazine titled “Changing dynamics”.
