Despite a softening economy globally, ‘The Great Resignation’ looks to continue. One in four (26%) employees say it is likely they will change jobs in the next 12 months, up from 19% last year.
Workers who said they are most likely to change employers include those who feel overworked (44%), struggle to pay the bills every month (38%), and Gen Z (35%).
PwC released the 2023 Hopes and Fears Global Workforce Survey which details the attitudes and behaviours of nearly 54,000 workers in 46 countries and territories.
Among workers who said they are likely to change employers, less than half (47%) said they find their jobs fulfilling compared to 57% of those unlikely to change employers. Those likely to change employers are also eight percentage points less likely to say that they can truly be themselves at work than their counterparts who intend to stay (51% vs. 59%).
Today’s cooling economy is creating a cash-strapped workforce
Globally, employees are increasingly feeling cash-strapped as a cooling economy and inflationary challenges continue to impact workforce wallets. The proportion of the global workforce who said they have money left over at the end of the month has fallen to 38%, down from 47% last year. One in five workers (21%) now work multiple jobs, with 69% doing so because they need additional income. The share of workers with multiple jobs is higher for Gen Z (30%) and ethnic minorities (28%).
The economic squeeze is also driving up pay demands, with the proportion of workers planning to ask for a pay increase jumping from 35% to 42% year on year. Among workers who are struggling financially, that number rises to nearly half (46%).
Bob Moritz, PwC Global Chair, said: “The global workforce is divided into two – those with valuable skills who are well set to keep learning, and those without. We found that often, those without the skills are less financially secure and less able to access training in the skills of the future.”
There is a negative feedback loop as cash-strapped workers are less likely to access training
Compared to workers who can pay their bills comfortably, those who struggle or cannot pay their bills are 12 percentage points less likely to say they are actively seeking out opportunities to develop new skills (62% vs. 50%). Similarly, those workers who are more financially secure are more likely to seek feedback at work and use it to improve their performance (57%) than those who are struggling financially (45%).
More than one-third (37%) of workers doing better financially say AI will improve their productivity versus those workers not doing well financially (24%). Those workers doing better financially also think AI will create new job opportunities (24% vs. 19%). They are less likely to think it will change the nature of their work in a negative way (13% vs. 18%).
Skilled workers are more optimistic
More than half (51%) say the skills their job requires will change significantly in the next five years, compared to just 15% for employees who don’t have specialised training. Around two-thirds are confident their employer will help them develop the digital, analytical and collaboration skills they will need. These numbers fall to below half for those who do not currently work in jobs that require specialist training.
Legacy recruitment practices hinder employee mobility confidence
More than one-third (35%) of workers with specialist skills moderately or strongly agree that they have missed out on work opportunities because they don’t know the right people.
Meanwhile, more than one-third (35%) of workers say they have skills that are not apparent from their CV or job histories, indicating companies may be overlooking talent within the ranks. Recent research published by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with PwC found that creating skills-first labour markets could help more than 100 million people worldwide get better jobs.
Younger generations are more optimistic about AI’s impact on their careers
More than half (52%) of employees globally expect to see some positive impact of AI on their career over the next five years, with one-third (31%) saying it’ll increase their productivity/efficiency at work. Many workers also view AI as an opportunity to learn new skills (27%).
The survey also reveals stark demographic disparities in employee attitudes towards AI. Younger generations are much more likely to expect AI to impact their careers across all the surveyed impacts, both positive and negative, whereas a little over one-third (34%) of Baby Boomers think AI will not impact their careers, only 14% of Gen Z and 17% of Millennials agree.
