A recent survey revealed employees' concerns about their jobs and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their career dreams.
In June 2020, the Lowell, Kronos Incorporated Workforce Institute surveyed 3,903 employees and business leaders in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
He wanted to find out how they felt about their employer's immediate response to COVID-19 and explored the top workforce needs and concerns for 2021.
The survey questions explored leadership and employee attitudes around trust in the workplace, digital transformation, and crisis management.
The survey “Hindsight 2020: COVID Concerns to 2021” found that only one in five (20%) felt that the company they work for met their needs during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Working hours have increased. Half of workers globally say they are working either the same or more hours regularly since the start of the pandemic, which explains why more than two in five (43%) said their company should balance their workload to avoid burnout.
Burnout and fatigue affect employees who work remotely (43%) and employees who are in the physical workplace (43%).
Overall, three in five (59%) leaders say their organization has taken some basic steps to protect against burnout, however, overall, 29% of employees want organizations/businesses to act with more empathy.
More than a third of employees and business leaders (36%) are concerned about future layoffs and resignations due to the economic instability created by COVID-19. Workers in China (44%) are most concerned, followed by Mexico (41%), Canada (40%) and the US (37%).
These job security concerns span all generations: Gen Z (anyone born between 1995 and 2019) and “young Millennials” (born between 1981-2000 at 35%), “oldest Millennials” (29 to 38 years old at 37%), Gen Xers (those born between 1965 and 1980 at 36%) and Boomers (34%) are equally concerned.
Although older workers are considered the highest-risk population for COVID-19, the younger the respondents, the more worried they are about their jobs.
Three in 10 employees and business leaders wished their company had more flexibility, especially during the pandemic’s most chaotic phase. This is especially true for those with families (34%), although this technology-focused desire exposes a general divide between younger workers (31%) and Boomers (19%).
However, not everyone is disappointed. A third of workers globally (33%) say they trust their employer more than they did before the pandemic began because of how they have responded.
For individual employees, working from home seems to have put their career ambitions on hold.
