Surveys Show Workers Are Ready To Make Changes

From ERE Net by John Zappe Sep 29, 2009, 5:36 pm ET

A
raft of recent surveys shows that the recession is having a profound
impact on workers and employment trends worldwide. Even though they
measure different things - global hiring, immigration repatriation, and
career trends - there's a theme here, which is that the economy is
global and when it recovers, things will not go back to the way they
were.

There's the report from Monster this week that says vast numbers of workers are ready to switch careers for a new job. Another survey, this one from SearchPath International and Antal International, give us a global view of hiring - and firing - trends.

The Global Snapshot
offers clues to where the hottest markets in the world are for managers
and professionals. (Hint: Think Russia, China, India, Egypt, and
Eastern Europe.)

That report dovetails with last week's USA Today report about an emerging brain drain of managers and professionals from the U.S. to China and India.

Vivek Wadhwa

Vivek Wadhwa, executive in residence at Duke University and a senior
research associate at Harvard University, surveyed some 1,200
immigrants who returned to their native country. He reports that
improved opportunities at home, coupled with U.S. visa policies, makes
it likely that up to 200,000 white collar migrants will return to China
and India in the next five years.

A UPI version of the story
includes this comment from Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese
Embassy in Washington: "China needs a lot of well-trained personnel."

No surprise there, especially no surprise after you peek at The
Global Snapshot report that says 74 percent of the surveyed companies
in China report they are hiring skilled managers and other white collar
professionals now. Also not surprisingly, the report commentary notes
that there has been a better than 10 percent rise in the companies
shedding workers, which the report notes, suggests "that employers are
taking advantage of current conditions to ‘weed out' less productive
members of staff."

Other hot Asian markets for these same workers: Singapore, Pakistan
and Hong Kong. India is bit less robust with 51 percent of the surveyed
companies hiring now. But give it a quarter and 66 percent say they'll
be looking for managers and professionals.

In the U.S., 55 percent of respondents report hiring, with the same percentage planning to hire next quarter.

The recession has also got workers thinking that it may be wise to find a new career.

Monster
released a poll of workers in North America and Europe showing 89
percent of them would consider or would make a career change if it
meant finding a new job. While only 11 percent of the 22,444 visitors
to Monster's sites in Europe, Canada, or the U.S. said they wouldn't
change careers - at least not now - 49 percent said they've been
wanting to change careers and are ready now.

In Spain, 92 percent of the visitors to the Monster site who took
the poll said they were ready to make a career change. They're feeling
the pressure; 44 percent said they feel they must take the first job
that comes along. That percentage contrasts sharply with respondents
elsewhere, only 23 percent of whom felt they needed to pretty much take
anything.

No doubt those who visit Monster sites are motivated job seekers,
and probably more willing to switch industries than those who aren't
looking. But when half of those taking the poll answer the question,
"Would you consider a job in another industry?" with a "Yes, I've been
wanting to make a career change," you can figure that change is
underway.