Workers saying good bye to ‘selfish’ bosses



By Ewin Hannan

The number of employees and managers actively looking and applying for new positions has risen dramatically in the past eight months as workers feel the sacrifices they made during the global financial crisis have gone unrecognised by their employers.

A national survey of business leaders, managers and employees has found a sharp increase in the number of workers looking to change jobs and a significant rise in those applying for alternative employment since September last year.

The survey, commissioned by Leadership Management Australasia, found 18 per cent of employees had applied for new jobs, a 64 per cent increase since last September.

The proportion of employees actively looking for new jobs had jumped from 17 per cent to 38 per cent.

LMA managing director Grant Sexton said the increases should alarm employers.

“A spike like this is unheard of, a staggering and scary response,” Mr Sexton said.
He said such increases had not been recorded in the 10 years that the annual survey had been conducted.

“Employees feel they have been left in the lurch; no one has thanked them for sticking to the task during the tough times and no one’s talking to them now about their futures,” he said.

Unlike in previous downturns, employers sought to minimise redundancies and instead asked workers to take pay cuts, accept wage freezes and work fewer hours.

While workers held on to their jobs, employers benefited by retaining skilled employees.

Mr Sexton said employees were frustrated that their sacrifices were not being acknowledged as the economy recovered.

“Employees who had been denied salary increases and were asked to work unpaid overtime or vastly different hours during the global financial crisis are now on the move because they feel their employers have been ignoring them now that the hard times of the GFC are over, while instead focusing on restoring company profits,” he said.

“There’s a dramatic change in the workplace today which should be a major concern to every HR department and boardroom.”

Unless employers took action, companies risked losing their most talented employees and would be forced to pay the higher costs of recruiting new staff.

Asked to name the characteristics of their employer of choice, investing in the learning and development of people and recognising and rewarding staff well were the most nominated.

Article from The Australian, May, 2010.