One in four workers looking for new jobs as cost of living concerns bite – PwC

Despite a softening economy globally, ‘The Great Resignation’ looks to continue. One in four (26 percent) employees around the world say it is likely they will change jobs in the next 12 months, up from 19 percent last year. Workers who said they are most likely to change employers include those who feel overworked (44 percent), struggle to pay the bills every month (38 percent), and Gen Z (35 percent).

In the Philippines, 29 percent (vs. 30 percent for Asia Pacific) say they are likely to change employers in the next 12 months, and they are more likely to be in the Engineering & Construction (35 percent) and Hospitality & Leisure (31 percent) industries. And with high inflation rates experienced in early 2023, Filipino employees are also much more likely to ask for a pay raise (70 percent) and promotion (59 percent).

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 percent, down from 47 percent last year. One in five workers (21 percent) now work multiple jobs, with 69 percent doing so because they need additional income. The share of workers with multiple jobs is higher for Gen Z (30 percent) and ethnic minorities (28 percent).

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. In a world where CEOs know they need to transform their businesses to succeed, they need to combine the benefits of technology with a plan to unlock the talents of all workers. It is in no one’s interest for businesses to chase the same group of skilled workers while the rest of society gets left behind.”

There is a negative feedback loop as cash-strapped workers are less likely to access training

Workers struggling financially are also less able to meet the challenges of the future including the need to develop new skills, and adapt to the rise of AI. 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 percent vs. 50 percent). Similarly, those workers who are more financially secure are more likely to seek feedback at work and use it to improve their performance (57 percent) than those who are struggling financially (45 percent).

More than one-third (37 percent) of workers doing better financially say AI will improve their productivity versus those workers not doing well financially (24 percent). Those workers doing better financially also think AI will create new job opportunities (24 percent vs. 19 percent). They are less likely to think it will change the nature of their work in a negative way (13 percent vs. 18 percent).

Skilled workers are more optimistic

In contrast, skilled workers are facing a rapidly changing economic and workplace environment with greater confidence.

Workers who said their job requires specialized skills are more likely to anticipate change ahead. Globally, more than half (51 percent) say the skills their job requires will change significantly in the next five years, compared to just 15 percent for employees who don’t have specialized 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.

In the Philippines, employees whose jobs require specialist training are more likely to ask for a pay raise (74 percent) or promotion (62 percent) but are less likely to change employers (27 percent). These numbers are higher compared to those who do not currently work in jobs requiring specialist training.

Martijn Schouten, PwC Southeast Asia Consulting Partner, commented: “Heavily influenced by changing customer preferences and skills shortages, CEOs across Asia Pacific see a pressing need to transform their business model to remain relevant. Workers across the region – and in particular the newer generations in the workforce – are recognizing that exact same need. This provides a powerful starting point for business leaders to involve employees in co-creating and co-facilitating the necessary organization transformation.”

Legacy recruitment practices hinder employee mobility confidence

In a competitive labor market, employers are missing out on valuable talent because of old-fashioned approaches to recruitment and development. More than one-third (35 percent) 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 percent) 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 labor markets could create 100 million jobs around the world.

Bhushan Sethi, Strategy&, Principal, PwC US said: “With the ongoing economic uncertainty, we see a global workforce that wants more pay and more meaning from their work. Addressing these needs will be critical as leaders seek to transform their workplaces enabling business model reinvention, profitable growth and job creation. A critical part of this transformation agenda will include accessing alternative talent pools through a skills-first hiring approach, to address today's skills and labor shortages. Evaluating and upskilling people based on what they can do in the future, not just what they have demonstrated in the past can deliver sustainable economic, business and societal outcomes.”

Employers have a key role to play in employee retention

PwC’s 2023 CEO Survey found that four in ten CEOs think their company will not survive more than 10 years without transformation. The workforce is a little more optimistic in the Hopes & Fears Survey, with the equivalent figure standing at 33 percent. Although such pessimism rises to 40 percent among younger generations. Confidence in long-term business longevity is also key to retention. Workers who believe their company won’t survive a decade on its current path are more than twice as likely to leave in the next 12 months (43 percent cite they are likely to leave vs. 19 percent of workers who believe their company will survive longer than a decade).

Pete Brown, Global People & Organisation Leader, PwC UK said: “At every turn, CEOs know they must reinvent their business in order to survive the next challenge. We see that leadership is needed more than ever to retain talent, while also recruiting those with the human skills necessary to weather any storm. C-suites must listen to their people today if they are to create a viable workforce of the future, for tomorrow.”

Younger generations are more optimistic about AI’s impact on their careers

More than half (52 percent) of employees globally expect to see some positive impact of AI on their career over the next five years, with nearly a third (31 percent) saying it’ll increase their productivity/efficiency at work. Many workers also view AI as an opportunity to learn new skills (27 percent).

Filipino employees, on the same note, foresee AI having mostly positive impacts on their jobs with 46 percent saying that AI will increase productivity and efficiency at work (vs. 41 percent for Asia Pacific), and 37 percent viewing it as an opportunity to learn new skills (vs. 34 percent for Asia Pacific). These respondents are more likely to be in industries such as Business/Professional Services, Engineering & Construction, and Banking and Capital Markets.

The survey also reveals stark demographic disparities across the world in employee attitudes towards AI. Younger generations are much more likely to expect AI to impact their careers across all of the surveyed impacts, both positive and negative, whereas a little over one-third (34 percent) of Baby Boomers think AI will not impact their careers, only 14 percent of Gen Z and 17 percent of Millennials agree.

Veronica Bartolome, PwC Philippines Consulting Managing Principal, remarked: “Generative AI applications entering the workplace brings excitement as it promises efficiency and productivity which is palpable in the survey results. However, considering the other side of the findings, this excitement comes along with concerns such as worries about the need to learn new skills that employees are not confident in having the capacity to do so, and thoughts about AI negatively changing the nature of their work or replacing their role entirely. This is another factor that business leaders should start thinking about and consider in their organization transformation journey.”

PwC’s Hopes and Fears annual survey:

In April 2023, PwC surveyed 53,912 individuals who are in work or active in the labor market. The sample was designed to reflect a range of industries, demographic characteristics and working patterns. The sample was structured across 46 countries and territories and sample sizes were scaled to reflect each territory or region’s share of global GDP.

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