Money and lifestyle issues driving career change for Singapore’s workers − Kelly Global Workforce Index™ finds

4th August, 2011 – The career-for-life is vanishing, with more than half of all Singaporean respondents saying they expect to switch careers within the next five years, according to the latest survey results from global workforce solutions leader, Kelly Services®.

The main cause, cited by 32 percent, is the need for higher income, followed by changing personal interests (25 percent) and the need for improved work-life balance (also 25 percent).

The findings about career choice and career progression are part of the Kelly Global Workforce Index, which obtained the views of approximately 97,000 people in 30 countries, including more than 900 in Singapore.

“We are seeing a surprisingly large number of people who are actively considering the critical issue of whether they should change their careers and make a fresh start,” said Melissa Norman, Kelly Services Managing Director Singapore and Malaysia.

“For an earlier generation, a change of career would have been something of a crisis, however today, it is seen as a reflection of shifts in demand for different skills and occupations, as well as changing personal interests on the part of employees. “

One sign of the shifting attitude to career interruption is that more than two-thirds (68 percent) of those surveyed believe they could resume their career at the same level after taking a break for such things as maternity or paternity leave, illness or an extended holiday.

Baby boomers (aged 48-65) are the most confident of resuming their career following a break, with 70 percent confident they could do so, compared with 69 percent of Gen Y (aged 18-29), and 66 percent of Gen X (aged 30-47).

Results of the survey in Singapore:

• The industry sectors in which employees will face the greatest likelihood of career change are Government, Engineering and Information Technology.
• In determining the most important elements in a person’s career – experience or formal education – the vast majority (83 percent) nominate experience, while 16 percent cite formal education and 1 percent are undecided.
• Most respondents (68 percent) say that when looking for a job, the best indicator of a person’s talent is their work experience, followed by performance in the job interview (18 percent), job references (7 percent) and education (also 7 percent).
• 87 percent of respondents say they aspire to an executive position.
• 96 percent say that it is either “extremely important” or “important” that qualifications and skills be upgraded in order to progress their career.

“As individuals take greater control of their careers, there is a likelihood of employees moving in and out of the workforce for both professional and lifestyle reasons. Employers and employees will both need to adapt to this new workplace reality, where the smooth career pathway will be the exception rather than the rule. With talent mobility on the rise, the clearly emergent trend is that employees can now work anywhere, anytime—and many of them already do. The workplace of the future must now evolve to be just as virtual as its employees have become. To accomplish this, management must develop a higher level of comfort in workforce virtualization” Ms Norman adds.

“ With 68% of respondents confirming that the best indicator of a person’s talent is their work experience followed by their performance, the results match the expectations of the employment market where employers are willing to pay premium for talent who can hit the ground running and contribute to an organizations’ growth. In the Kelly Employment Outlook and Salary Guide 2011/12 released in May this year, it was noted that talent with more than 8 years experience and a performance track record saw an increase of 15 per cent – 20 per cent in salary increment in comparison to last year’s salary indicators. These were predominantly from the Banking and Finance, IT, Engineering industries as well as talent managing Sales and Marketing and Human Resources functions.”

“ More organizations are providing up-skilling, training and development programs as part of their talent attraction and retention initiatives for a continuous talent pipeline as well as to ensure that they have a leadership bench strength to meet the organizations’ growth. Continuous lifelong learning is truly an aspect that is embraced by many organizations today with talent scarcity and talent mobility on the rise,” Ms Norman concludes.

For more information about these survey results and other key global findings, please visit the Kelly Global Workforce Index. 

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About the Kelly Global Workforce Index™
The Kelly Global Workforce Index is an annual survey revealing opinions about work and the workplace from a generational viewpoint. Approximately 97,000 people from the Americas, APAC and EMEA responded to the 2011 survey with results published on a quarterly basis. Kelly Services was the recipient of a MarCom Platinum Award in 2010 and a Gold Award in 2009 for the Kelly Global Workforce Index in the Research/Study category.

About Kelly Services®  

Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:  KELYA, KELYB) is a leader in providing workforce solutions.  Kelly® offers a comprehensive array of outsourcing and consulting services as well as world-class staffing on a temporary, temporary-to-hire and direct-hire basis.  Serving clients around the globe, Kelly provides employment to more than 530,000 employees annually.  Revenue in 2010 was $5 billion.  Visit www.kellyservices.com and connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

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Media contact: 
Jeannie Khoo
Marketing Director, Singapore and Malaysia
Tel: 603 – 20701878
Email: jeannie_khoo@kellyservices.com.my 

Diana Tay
Marketing Manager, Singapore
Tel: 65 – 65014717
Email: diana_tay@kellyservices.com.sg