Several interesting pieces of research were published this week. Docebo revealed that European Workers are still unhappy in their current role, with 75% of UK workers dissatisfied with their pay. Docebo believes that robust skills training and career prospects help staff retention and recruitment. This week’s findings were published by Accenture, ADP, Qualtrics and UKG.
Accenture
Accenture discovered that 76% of semiconductor executives expect supply chain issues to ease by 2024. This will relieve manufacturing industries as the impact on delivery times has been severely impacted by semiconductor shortages. However, this presumes there are no more incidents that impact the industry.
The report, titled “Pulse of the Semiconductor Industry: Balancing Resilience with Innovation,” is based on a global survey of 300 senior semiconductor executives who evaluate their companies’ supply chain outlooks and innovation roadmaps. Some challenges remain with executives citing:
- Geopolitics – 48%
- Cybersecurity threats – 42%
- The changing competitive landscape -39%
- Talent shortages – 35%
Syed Alam, global lead of Accenture’s High Tech industry practice, commented, “As the demand for chips slows down amid inflationary concerns and an easing of the chip shortage, semiconductor businesses face a new set of challenges driven by geopolitics and a growing talent shortage. To succeed, companies need to balance being resilient in tough times with continued investments in innovation.”
The report also identifies investments that will drive future semiconductor growth. They include the Metaverse, Digital Health and Mobility.
Accenture also published two reports at CES about the metaverse: “Evolution, Then Revolution” and “From the Art of the Possible to the Art of the Tangible.” They found that growing consumer and business interest in the metaverse will fuel a trillion-dollar opportunity for commerce by the end of 2025.
David Treat, senior managing director and co-lead of Accenture’s Metaverse Continuum business group, noted, “The metaverse as a continuum of technologies and human-centric experiences will usher in the next era of our digital lives and transform all aspects of business. Underpinning it all are opportunities for new products and services, digital assets, business models and the technical capacity for conveying a sense of presence and expression.”
Kevan Yalowitz, Accenture’s Software & Platforms industry practice lead, added, “Consumers are starting to see the metaverse as an essential tool which, when integrated into their lives, can streamline how they complete tasks and increase productivity. Businesses able to deliver tangible experiences that address consumer needs in key areas of interest will gain early-mover advantage in a rapidly forming metaverse industry.”
ADP
ADP published its national employment report for December. In December, private sector employment increased by 235,000 jobs, and annual pay was up 7.3% year-over-year. Larger firms, however, saw a drop of 151,000 jobs.
Nela Richardson, chief economist of ADP, commented, “The labor market is strong but fragmented, with hiring varying sharply by industry and establishment size. Business segments that hired aggressively in the first half of 2022 have slowed hiring and in some cases cut jobs in the last month of the year.”
ADP continued to look at the tech trends in HR. ADP identified four drivers shaping the world of work:
- People are forever changed and want work to be personal.
- People are providing real-time feedback, expecting a real-time response.
- People are empowered by data and expect transparency.
- People want to work differently, demanding employers find innovative solutions.
Sreeni Kutam, president of global product and innovation at ADP, commented, “Work has always been about people, and people aren’t static. Their lives are continuously in motion, shaping the needs and the expectations they have of their employers. Work this year will be about listening and responding to those needs with greater urgency and delivering an employee experience that integrates people’s full lives.
“That experience starts with recruitment and hiring, but it spans career growth and development, workplace experience, and health and wellbeing. At ADP we’re focused on addressing these trends by tapping into data and providing intuitive and personalized tools that will help employers build meaningful connections with their people.”
ADP is hosting a webinar on January 25th at 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time to explore the topic further.
Qualtrics
Qualtrics, in a study of 3,000 working Americans, found that 35% of workers say their career ambitions decreased over the past three years. However, younger workers – Generation Z and young millennials (18-34 years old) – are growing more ambitious, with 35% reporting higher career goals than pre-pandemic.
Dr Benjamin Granger, Qualtrics chief workplace psychologist, said, “The pandemic pushed people to think differently about the role that work plays in their lives, and we’re seeing the impact of that. While it’s not surprising that growth and development are important and career ambitions change as we age or enter different stages of life, this data suggests that the levers organizations pull to attract and retain both younger and older workers may need to differ.”
Gen Z and millennials place a higher priority on aligning with their employer’s values than older generations; this research highlights how the workforce culture is shifting with a new generation of workers. The largest motivating factor for young workers to do their best at work is earning money, whereas older workers are more motivated by personal pride in their work.
SD Worx
Research by SD Worx in Belgium found that 1 in 6 plan to lay off workers in the first quarter of 2023. Less than 1 in 5 organisations plan to replace the losses. The reason for the layoffs was put down to uncertain prospects and reduced competitiveness. However, 1 in 3 SMEs plan to recruit at the beginning of 2023. Walloon SMEs are more likely to layoff staff.
UKG
UKG published the Workforce Activity Report for December 2022. It shows the total number of shifts worked by people at U.S. businesses fell 2.9% from the prior month, the first significant decline since the omicron-fuelled January 2022 reading (-5.1%) and the largest mid-December decline in at least four years.
Dave Gilbertson, vice president of UKG, said, “Executives across all industries, regions, and business-size segments are facing significant uncertainty when planning for 2023, as consumer demand begins to slow. That uncertainty played through in the labor market this month, as hourly employees were offered fewer shifts in mid-December than mid-November and workforce activity was just 92.9% of the level we saw in December 2021.”
