Recruitment firm Randstad revealed that employers in Singapore, Hong Kong SAR and Malaysia continue to ignore the importance of work-life balance as employee preference for it rises to the highest level in years.
The Randstad Employer Brand Research 2017 revealed that the importance of work-life balance has continued to rise to become one of the most important attractiveness factors in Singapore, Hong Kong SAR and Malaysia. Despite this, employers in all three markets performed so poorly in the aspect of work-life balance that the factor ended close to the bottom of the ranking.
The ranking also revealed that employers scored the highest in financial health and good reputation. While potential employees considered the financial health of the company to be fairly important, good reputation was not much of a priority, further highlighting the gap between employers and employees.
Pleasant work atmosphere was also found to have a gap in expectations between employees and employers. The attractiveness factor ranked fairly highly with employees, however, employers scored poorly in this area – just one position higher than work-life balance.
Michael Smith, Managing Director, Randstad Singapore, Hong Kong SAR and Malaysia noted, “The results revealed by this year’s Randstad Employer Brand Research are far from being encouraging. It’s widely known that work-life balance has become highly important for employees of all demographics; our research just reaffirms and measures that attribute. Whether organisations are resting their laurels on being financially healthy and having a strong reputation, or whether their current work-life balance initiatives are not strong enough, it’s clear that employer branding efforts need to be very carefully re-examined.”
“The stakes are high for these organisations. By not addressing the evolving wants and needs of employees, they risk losing the very talent that helped them build their strong reputations and financial health,” added Smith.
The Randstad Employer Brand Award, previously known as the Randstad Awards, is presented each year to the most attractive employer in 26 countries across the globe. It is based on the outcome of one of the world’s most representative and inclusive research into employer branding, covering over 160,000 global respondents.
The 75 largest companies are selected in each participating country, usually with more than 1,000 employees. This list is presented to a representative cross section of relevant respondents based on region, age, education and gender. In Singapore and Hong Kong SAR, over 5,000 employees and job-seekers between the ages of 18-65 were surveyed. In Malaysia, over 4,500 were surveyed.
what employees seek vs what employers offer
Malaysia
Singapore
Hong Kong SAR
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about Randstad Employer Brand Research
Celebrating its 17th edition globally, the Randstad Employer Brand Research is presented each year to the most attractive employer in 26 markets across the globe. It is based on the outcome of the most representative and inclusive employer branding research in the world. The outcome of the Employer Brand Award is based on public perception and focuses on three main areas: overall brand awareness, absolute attractiveness and relative attractiveness. This creates a level playing field for all competing companies instead of giving an advantage to large multinationals with higher name recognition than smaller companies. This award is not open for nomination and the results are based solely on the opinions and votes of the local workforce – making it the only award that is truly representing the people’s choice. The 75 largest companies are selected in each participating market, usually with more than 1,000 employees. This list is presented to a representative cross section of relevant respondents based on region, age and gender. Respondents were asked to identify companies they recognise and indicate if they would like to work for them. This is then followed up with an evaluation of attractiveness factors, such as salary, benefits, work atmosphere and job content, for each of the companies.
about Randstad
The Randstad Group is a global leader in the HR services industry and specialises in solutions in the field of flexible work and human resources services. Our services range from regular temporary Staffing and permanent placements to Inhouse Services, Professionals, and HR Solutions (including Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Managed Services Programs, and outplacement). By combining our human touch with technology-driven solutions and tools, we aim to offer both clients and candidates the best tools and solutions for increased efficiency and engagement, connecting more people to more jobs. Randstad has top-three positions in Argentina, Belgium and Luxembourg, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the United States, and major positions in Australia and Japan. At year-end 2016, Randstad had 36,524 corporate employees and 4,752 branches and Inhouse locations in 39 markets around the world. In 2016, Randstad generated revenue of €20.7 billion. Randstad was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Diemen, the Netherlands. Randstad Holding nv is listed on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam, where options for stocks in Randstad are also traded.