The impact of pay rises on employee loyalty
1. Recently, there was a press release with the title “Every second employee whoHe did not get a raise, he will change jobs in 2020″. Do you share this opinion?
This thesis seems too radical. According to our reports, about 25% of employees changed their jobs last year, almost half of whom were motivated by financial reasons. Poles are reluctant to ask for a raise or promotion from their current employer. As many as 35% prefer to change jobs, considering it an easier way to improve employment conditions. In 2020, we expect that employee turnover will continue to occur, as there is still a lot of demand for employees on the market, especially in certain industries, and thus competition among employers. However, it should be noted that 2020 may be less optimistic from the point of view of employees than 2019. Companies are anxiously noting the signs of the deteriorating economic situation in Poland, but also in Germany, our main economic partner in Europe. The Grant Thornton study “Employers’ plans for 2020” shows that the percentage of employers planning wage increases fell to 20% compared to 36% in 2019. We can already see a slowdown in the pace of wage growth, but there is no doubt that in many industries pay rises will still be necessary to retain key or hard-to-reach employees. Ultimately, a lot will depend on the state of the economy. If there is indeed a significant slowdown, the market situation will cool down the aspirations of employees for pay rises and to take the risk of changing jobs.
2. In which industries in Poland can you freely change jobs today – if you don’t get a raise?
The largest shortage of employees is among qualified manual workers, in the manufacturing, transport, construction and IT industries. Considerable demand can also be seen in the medical-care, financial and generally speaking service sectors.
Qualified production workers are the most sought-after: welders, locksmiths, electricians, mechanics, electromechanics, machine tool operators, but also clothing production workers and tailors. Equally high demand is observed in the positions of bus and truck drivers over 3.5 tons, construction vehicles, but also among health care workers – from doctors, through nurses, to massage therapists, physiotherapists, midwives.
Our experience shows that the market still records a large shortage of IT specialists, e.g. programmers or developers, and engineers, e.g. biotechnologists, production technologists, as well as analysts, business intelligence specialists or independent accountants. Customer service people who speak many foreign languages are still in demand in the services.
When it comes to physical work, there are a lot of offers for warehouse workers, forklift operators, and in the construction industry, where concrete workers and steel fixers, pavers, carpenters and carpenters, roofers and sheet metal workers, building installation fitters, bricklayers and plasterers, earthmoving equipment mechanics, finishing workers and construction workers are in demand.
It is obvious that the demand for specialists is increasing with the development of specific fields and market segments, currently m.in robotization and automation, e-commerce, or energy and ecology. In the coming years, companies will therefore be looking for automation specialists, robotics and mechatronics engineers, people to work in the e-commerce industry, or for positions related to the energy sector and ecology.
At the same time, due to the still prevailing employee market in Poland, HR and employer branding specialists have great opportunities to find a job. There is a need to increase recruitment competences in combination with building an attractive image of the company as an employer.
Therefore, people with qualifications corresponding to the positions listed here have the greatest negotiating power, but taking into account the economic situation in the country and the economic condition of enterprises, it should not be expected that companies will be as submissive to pay rises as it was in 2018-2019.
3. In which industries is it difficult to negotiate raises today, and changing jobs is not easy at all?
Due to the general shortage of workers on the Polish labour market, there are few surplus professions, although currently it is by far the most difficult for economists to find a job, especially if we are talking about secondary vocational education. Typically humanistic positions that may also have problems finding a job are: pedagogues, sociologists, social research specialists, philosophers, historians, political scientists and cultural scientists. In order to be competitive on the labour market, people who have completed studies in these fields should broaden their qualifications, e.g. with knowledge of foreign languages.
Some difficulties in changing jobs may also be encountered by people applying for top positions, such as managers and directors. There are relatively few offers of this type on the market, and companies often offer them to their existing employees by way of promotion. The average time of looking for a job for a lower-level position in Poland is currently about 2 months, while it takes about a year on average for managers and directors. It is worth noting, however, that senior staff most often do not change jobs for financial reasons, but rather because they want to develop further.
4. What awaits the Polish labour market this year – what challenges are ahead of it?
The demographic decline, which is already noticeable today, causes difficulties in reaching qualified staff. At the same time, there is a noticeable increase in the requirements of candidates towards a potential employer, they expect higher salaries, additional benefits and friendly working conditions. One of the very important factors, the role of which has recently increased significantly, has become an attractive and convenient location of the workplace. This is especially evident in larger cities, where covering longer distances every day takes too much time.
Recruitment will therefore remain a difficult task. A recruiter must de facto transform into a salesperson who consciously and skillfully searches for customers (candidates) and sells them a service, i.e. a job offer, using modern tools and technologies.
The current situation on the labor market forces entrepreneurs to answer an important question: what to invest in to achieve success in the area of HR: in the expansion of the internal HR department or in cooperation with external employment agencies? Both HR departments and employment agencies go hand in hand in the search for candidates. So there can be only one answer – in order to meet the increasingly demanding labor market, it is worth betting on the synergy of both these areas. Among our clients, we observe significant investments in HR departments, but the teams are not expanded with more recruiters, but with Employer Branding or internal communication specialists. The focus is definitely shifting from the recruitment zone to employee retention and building the company’s image as a friendly employer. This is starting to be the main focus of HR departments.
Acquiring employees has become such a time-consuming and expensive undertaking that it turns out to be a more optimal solution to commission recruitment to an agency, or even outsourcing entire processes or functions in the company. Flexible forms of employment, such as temporary work and outsourcing services, are becoming increasingly important in the face of an uncertain economic situation. Companies use them preventively, preparing for an economic slowdown. They want to be able to react faster to changing market conditions and ensure greater business security.
A comprehensive employment agency can flexibly meet the personnel needs of the company. LeasingTeam Group, as a group of companies with different HR competences, designs individual employee management strategies for clients, which include talent recruitment, but also personnel outsourcing or temporary employment services. This allows customers to consciously and safely develop their business.
A statement was given by:
Weronika Jarosz, Business Development Specialist at LeasingTeam Group
Doświadczony analityk rynku pracy, specjalizuje się w badaniach nad trendami zatrudnienia i zmianami w strukturze zawodowej. Jego artykuły, publikowane w renomowanych czasopismach branżowych, pomagają czytelnikom zrozumieć dynamikę rynku pracy.
