Australian employees are expecting employers to improve compensation and work-life balance or they will look to move their labour to other companies that will offer it, according to recent research from Gartner.
Survey data collected in 2Q21 and published in the company’s latest Global Talent Monitor showed that 22.5 percent of employees actively looked for a new job, while 53.2 percent engaged in ‘passive’ job seeking.
The research may be of particular note to the technology industry, which has been facing a skills shortage since before the pandemic closed borders.
Work-life balance was highly important to those looking for better job opportunities, with 53.2 percent saying it was a major attractor for a new role, it also ranked third on the list of reasons people that leave jobs.
Third on the list of what lures people to new roles was compensation, up from the ninth place in the same period for the previous year, according to Gartner.
Second place, after work-life balance, was location. Also of note was job-interests alignment rising two places to eighth place, which did not crack the top 10 pre-pandemic.
“After the chaos of the last 18 months, Australians have been reflecting on what is important to them and making fundamental changes to both their personal and professional lives,” said Gartner HR practice vice president Aaron McEwan. “Employees are in a better position than ever to be seeking more satisfaction in their employment arrangement.”
Gartner called this a “radical reset”, which is seeing employees gain the freedom to expect change or look to other companies that may be willing to better accommodate them financially and personally.
The survey also noted that fewer Australians are expending effort beyond what is needed for their role, as levels of what it calls ‘discretionary effort’ fell to 15.6 percent, dipping below the global average.
“Employers have a clear mandate: evolve the employee experience to avoid paying a premium for new talent,” McEwan said. “Australians are seeing positive indicators within the job market; organizations that do not evolve risk mass resignations and an exodus of talent,”
McEwan said the most effective way to address retention issues is by taking a more holistic – or “human centric” – approach to the employee value proposition.
“We know that organizations who make these organizational and cultural changes are more likely to not only retain and attract staff but have a more productive and happier workforce too,” McEwan said.
Highlights from the 2Q21 Gartner Global Talent Monitor
| Talent Monitor | Australia | Global Average |
| Business Confidence Index | 56.7% | 51.7% |
| Job Opportunity Barometer | 53.7% | 53.5% |
| Active Job Seeking | 22.5% | 19.1% |
| Discretionary Effort | 15.61% | 15.8% |
| Drivers of Attraction | 1. Work-Life Balance2. Location3. Compensation | 1. Compensation2. Work-Life Balance3. Location |
| Drivers of Attrition | 1. Manager Quality2. People Management3. Work-Life Balance | 1. Compensation2. Manager Quality3. Work-Life Balance |
Source: Gartner (April 2021)Got a news tip for our journalists? Share it with us anonymously here.