Technology Companies in Asia Pacific Struggle to Retain Employees While Ramping up Hiring Plans

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 8 August 2019 –
Voluntary employee
turnover in the technology sector, a closely-watched metric for human resources
leaders, has increased in eight out of 10 markets this past quarter, according
to the Radford Global Technology Survey. Radford is part of Aon plc (NYSE:
AON).

 

Average Voluntary
Employee Turnover at Technology Companies

	Q1 2019	Q2 2019	Direction
Australia	13.3%	13.8%	+
China	14.0%	14.2%	+
Hong Kong	11.7%	13.9%	+
India	13.9%	13.4%	—
Japan	9.8%	10.9%	+
Malaysia	15.0%	15.3%	+
Philippines	12.2%	14.3%	+
Singapore	13.1%	14.7%	+
South Korea	11.3%	11.8%	+
Taiwan	9.6%	9.1%	—

Source: Radford Global Technology Survey Quarterly Workforce Trends
Report, Q2 2019

 

As
employee turnover has gone up, so too has the percentage of technology
companies reporting aggressive hiring plans. Companies reporting that they are actively
planning and recruiting for organisational growth increased in six out of 10
key Asia Pacific markets. In Singapore, the percentage of technology companies that plan to hire
aggressively increased
from 5.5% to 6.0%. At 18.4%, India has the highest percentage of companies
actively growing their workforce. Meanwhile, China experienced a drop in
companies expecting to grow headcount — from 10.9% to 7.0% — which could be partly
driven by an ongoing trade dispute with the United States.

Percentage
of Technology Companies Reporting Aggressive Hiring Plans

	Q1 2019	Q2 2019	Direction
Australia	7.1%	8.5%	+
China	10.9%	7.0%	—
Hong Kong	2.4%	3.6%	+
India	12.9%	18.4%	+
Japan	6.6%	7.3%	+
Malaysia	3.7%	1.4%	—
Philippines	4.2%	4.3%	+
Singapore	5.5%	6.0%	+
South Korea	3.2%	2.6%	—
Taiwan	3.0%	2.5%	—

Source: Radford Global Technology Survey Quarterly Workforce Trends
Report, Q2 2019

Trend lines often converge
between turnover and hiring. When the technology sector is in a robust state of
growth, employees are more likely to be lured into new jobs by attractive
rewards plans, career advancement, and opportunities to expand their skills.

 

“We define rewards as anything an employer provides that an employee
finds valuable,”
says Alexander Krasavin, Partner and Chief Commercial
Officer of Emerging Markets in the Rewards Solutions practice at Aon. “As companies reassess their retention strategies, they must work harder
to optimise their rewards to align them with their employee preferences. In
addition, businesses with a voluntary turnover of more than 10% should evaluate their
employer brand and human capital practices carefully.”

About Rewards Solutions

The Rewards Solutions
practice at Aon empowers business leaders to reimagine their approach to
rewards in the digital age through a powerful mix of data, analytics and
advisory capabilities. Our colleagues support clients across a full spectrum of
needs, including compensation benchmarking, pay and workforce modeling, and
expert insights on rewards strategy and plan design. To learn more, visit: rewards.aon.com.

About Aon

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For further information, please visit aon.com.