Page_Insights_IN_Talent_Trends_2023_Report.pdf

The Invisible
Revolution
Talent Trends 2023 | India
Unravelling the most profound transformation in
work culture since the arrival of the Internet.

Talent Trends 2023 | India | The Invisible Revolution
Summary — advice on how employers can thrive in the Invisible Revolution
About PageGroup
About our study
CultureCore: Applying actionable insights to talent strategy
A Revolutionary Shift
Total Cultural Revolution
The Work-Life Equation
Contents.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
2

Nicolas Dumoulin
Senior Managing Director,
India and Thailand
PageGroup
I am pleased to present the latest insights into the latest
talent trends in this report. The research provides an
overview of current trends and developments in the
employment market, highlighting the most critical headlines
in the talent market.
The technology industry continues to grow
While the tech industry faces challenges, hiring trends
remain strong, and the future looks bright. Increasing reliance
on remote work, digital transformation initiatives, adopting
emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and
the Internet of Things (IoT), and the need for cyber security
measures drive growth.
Technology has become a critical business driver due to the
increasing demand for digital transformation and innovation
in all industries. The need for tech talent will remain strong as
technology continues disrupting traditional business models.
We see the technology employment ecosystem gaining
momentum with India’s GCCs (Global Capability Centres)
exceeding 1,200, Indian startups receiving 3Bn$ in funding in
the first quarter of 2023, and an increase in CTO hiring.
There is a growing demand for data science, cybersecurity,
and cloud computing professionals. Those with the relevant
skills and experience have an excellent opportunity to
advance their careers in this high-growth industry.
Are we witnessing the most profound
workplace culture transformation since
the arrival of the Internet?
Salary continues to be the top motivator
Salary remains the most important reason for people to
change jobs, so a competitive compensation package is
essential for attracting and retaining top talent. Providing
attractive salaries and benefits is vital for employers to
remain competitive and meet employee expectations.
Employers face talent challenges from remote work
and globalisation
In the age of remote work and globalisation,
professionals are now free of geographical boundaries
and seek global career opportunities outside India.
Indians are increasingly in leadership roles worldwide
due to India’s export of leadership talent. The collateral
effect is a smaller leadership talent pool in the
country. And as a result, employers face challenges
and opportunities to adapt to changing employee
preferences, and must find ways to attract and retain
diverse talent.
Contract professionals help meet short-term
business objectives
Employers can benefit from interim managers and
contract professionals filling critical skill gaps and
meeting short-term business objectives. Fixed-term
contracts offer professionals greater flexibility and autonomy
while offering exposure to different industries and projects.
Company culture is a key focus in driving productivity
Talent development has emerged as an essential part of an
organisation’s retention strategy. Employers should prioritise
employee engagement, training and development to retain
talent, boost productivity, and create a more engaged and
motivated workforce.
Ultimately, this report provides valuable insights into the talent
market to help employers and job seekers navigate this ever-
changing landscape.
3

69,532
participants
in 37 markets
Talent Trends
2023 is the world’s
most robust and
comprehensive study
of skilled, white-collar
professionals
3,836
from India
Following on from the success
of last year’s India Talent
Trends study, welcome to
Talent Trends 2023. Drawing on
global findings, this year’s study
is presented by PageGroup’s
talent intelligence and insights
experts, Page Insights.
Our goal at Page Insights is to continually
improve our understanding of, and therefore
our collective empathy for, one of the scarcest
resources in the world: human capital.
It’s why our talent study is designed to have an end-to-end
perspective of talent in order to reveal their mindsets (motivations,
attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, values, etc.) and employment drivers
(salary, benefits, skills, talent development, company culture,
work-life balance, DE&I, flexibility, etc.).
4

22%
20s
35%
30s
29%
40s
12%
50s
2%
60s+
Age
Relationship & family demographics
People with Disabilities
5%
identify as a person
with disability
or make use of
personal assistance
device
6%
part of
LGBTQIA+
community
LGBTQIA+
Management responsibilities
Employment status Job tenure
21%
Top-level
(e.g. C-suite)
55%
Senior-level
(e.g. departmental managers)
14%
Mid-level
(e.g. line managers)
10%
No managerial
responsibilities
73%
married or living
with a partner
49%
have
children
27%
single
Employed, full-time
Unemployed and
searching for work
Employed, part-time
Entrepreneur / self-
employed / freelancer
Other
Started a new job
before 2019
Started a new job
shortly before the
pandemic (2019)
Started a new job
during the pandemic
(2020-2021)
Recent Job
Starters (2022)
23%
35%
10%
32%
5%
2%
4%
11%
78%
Study participant highlights in India.
5

Our comprehensive Talent Trends 2023 study presents a major defining moment
for us all. It categorically demonstrates that the Invisible Revolution is upon us.
A workplace
cultural revolution
in which the talent value equation
has been permanently reset
A shift in the
talent power dynamic
with talent now firmly in control
Focus on what matters
most to talent
to gain the right competitive edge
The big story.
6

Our CultureCore framework.
Talent Attraction
Company
Culture
Employee Retention
Employee Experience
How CultureCore
frames our insights.
Many would expect that “Talent Attraction” would be at the core of everything we
do as a recruitment company, but what we’ve learnt from doing this for almost
five decades is that successful recruitment can only happen when a few core
fundamentals are adequately considered.
These learnings led us to create our CultureCore talent strategy model, which puts
company culture at the core of everything you do. It might seem simple, but it
takes years to refine and even longer to execute authentically on a daily basis.
Once your company culture is defined (and take notice: people define a company’s
culture much more than the company itself does), it is then brought to life in
the Employee Experience that the company lives and breathes every day. When
a strong culture and an authentic experience are created, people stay. After
consistent application, this eventually creates a strong reputation for your
company’s “talent brand,” with an employee value proposition that prospective
hires not only believe in, but get excited about.
How we’ll use CultureCore to understand the Invisible Revolution and its impact:

First, we’ll paint a picture of what the talent market currently looks like:
what’s the reality when it comes to retention?

Then we’ll uncover the cultural reason behind this tremendous shift
we’re seeing in the talent market.

Finally, we’ll conclude by looking at how to apply our insights to optimise
the employee experience using three critical components.
7

8
A revolutionary shift
The Invisible Revolution began with a major shift in loyalty.
Talent Trends 2023 | India | The Invisible Revolution 8

The number of resignations is not slowing down
% of people who switched to a new job (by year)
2019 2021
2020 2022
10%
12%
20% 23%
Total cultural revolution
At the start of 2021, talk of the “Great
Resignation” reached fever pitch: it
was going to be a year dominated by
unprecedented levels of talent movement.
And by the third quarter of 2021, it was largely declared that
the worst was over.
Our data, however, tells a very different story.
Our collective focus on the latest headlines masked a much
bigger picture spanning a longer period of time. While the rate
of resignation increased higher than it typically would before,
during, and after the period attributed as the Great Resignation,
in 2022, we saw this number increased by 18% (when,
according to most, it should have stabilised).
And with 75% of the workforce being “active job seekers” this
year, along with increasing volatility of the global economy, we
foresee this number to continue to increase throughout 2023.
The Great Resignation
never ended.
9

Currently looking for a new job
Planning on looking for a new job
within the next 6 months
Would change roles for the right job
Not currently looking for a role but
not ruling it out
Waiting to see what happens with
the economy before deciding
Not open to new roles
Job seeking status:
are “active job seekers”,
meaning they are looking right
now or plan to find a new job
within the next 6 months.
on the fence
but open about
finding a new job
In last year’s survey, 94% of employees were open to new roles,
while 6% were not open at all.
64%
11%
7%
12%
4%
2%
75%
23%
The talent market is in universal flux.
98% of all employees
are open to new
opportunities.
This means that companies can only confidently
rely on fewer than 1 in 10 people in their current
workforce to be retained this year.
10

Job status, by when people last switched roles:
Post-pandemic
Pandemic
Pre-pandemic
Before 2019 2019 2022
2021
2020
Actively looking
On the fence
Not open
25%
73%
2% 1% 1% 1%
6%
23%
26%
77%
76%
72%
21%
32%
63%
People are open to new opportunities at
similar levels, regardless of when they
started their current job.
With almost two-thirds of those who started their job as recently
as 2022 actively looking for a job now, clearly something
transformational is happening within the talent market.
This talent market
shake-up is not
being led by tenure.
11

97%
60s+
98%
50s
98%
40s
97%
30s
98%
20s
98%
Male
97%
Female
98%
Property Construction
99%
Sales
98%
Secretarial Business Support
98%
Technology
96%
Professional Services
99%
Procurement, Supply Chain, Logistics
99%
Engineering Manufacturing
98%
Finance Accounting
98%
Healthcare Life Sciences
94%
Human Resources
95%
Legal Policy
99%
Marketing
97%
C-suite
98%
Top-level management
98%
Senior-level management
97%
Mid-level management
97%
No managerial responsibility
Seniority
Job function
Age
Location
Gender
89%
89%
95%
Taiwan
Thailand
Vietnam
92%
Singapore
93%
Philippines
95%
Malaysia
69%
Japan
95%
Indonesia
98%
India
90%
Hong Kong
86%
Chinese Mainland
90%
Australia
91%
Asia Pacific
90%
Global
Average
98%
Average
98%
This is not an isolated event, but a universal movement.
When zooming in on the 98% of people open to a new job, we see the same level of openness across various segmented views.
Talent in India who are open to new opportunities in 2023:
12

people who started
a new job within the
last year are open to
new opportunities
people have changed
roles since the
pandemic began
people are
looking for a new
job right now
9 in 10 3 in 5 3 in 5
The culture of long-term service to a single company is becoming
an obsolete concept. People are increasingly open to exploring
new opportunities, and job hopping has become the norm.
There will be a greater challenge for employers to retain top talent due to the factors
influencing employment we share in the pages to follow, with some very confronting
data-led insights that will demand a talent strategy rethink on many fronts.
Discover effective
strategies for
retaining talent
Loyalty has lost its lustre.
13

Remote full-time
Flexible / hybrid
In office full-time
Current workplace arrangement:
With flexible and hybrid
working now more mainstream
for most people, even the least
engaged job seekers can seize
the right opportunity when
it lands — a significant new
reality which will continue to
perpetuate job market mobility.
41%
16%
43%
Talent have two powerful advantages at their fingertips:
It is much easier to be kept informed in real-time
about job opportunities, through app notifications,
email alerts, messaging apps, etc.
The proliferation of hybrid-working jobs means
people find it easier to look for jobs — and be
contacted by recruiters — whilst performing their
duties in the privacy of home.
Information is driving
talent mobility.
How to reach the
right talent – fast
14

% of people who are more likely to look for a new job when the economy is performing poorly:
83%
By job function:
By market:
80%
83%
Marketing
78%
India average
68%
Sales
74%
74%
C-suite
79%
Finance Accounting
86%
Legal Policy
78%
71%
Human Resources
80%
Technology
71%
84%
66%
Asia Pacific
58%
Australia
60%
Chinese Mainland
56%
Hong Kong
78%
India
77%
Indonesia
51%
Japan
72%
Malaysia
64%
Philippines
59%
Singapore
69%
Taiwan
67%
Thailand
54%
Vietnam
Openness to new opportunities isn’t
dampened by the worsening global
economic outlook. In fact, there’s a direct
correlation between poor economic
performance and an increase in the
desire to look for a new job.
Meaning instead of reacting cautiously, people are more
likely to look for a new job when the economic environment
worsens — 78% of the India workforce at that.
However, this openness will not necessarily convert into
job applications. After a high volume of career migration
during and after the pandemic, people now focus on finding
employment opportunities that best meet their individual
needs and ambitions, and that fulfil their personal vision of
an ideal work-life balance.
This means that despite a very open-minded base of talent
in the market, the candidate-driven dynamics will only
intensify, with pressure on companies to stand out with their
job advertisements and create more compelling employee
value propositions based on what matters most to the talent
market.
The economy’s
impact on
job seeking.
15

The Invisible Revolution has already happened.
The threat of high turnover will be a permanent
fixture in the new talent era. The shift is not only
a result of the pandemic, but a broader evolution
of talent expectations. Talent no longer expects to
stay in a role, but expect their employers to deliver
where it counts. Otherwise, they will not hesitate
to look elsewhere.
But what sparked this
tremendous shift?
Pick up leadership
skills to navigate the
new era of work
16

Total cultural
revolution
Diving deeper into the root cause of the Invisible Revolution.
17
17

Job satisfaction:
Salary satisfaction:
Workload satisfaction:
54%
Satisfied
38%
Dissatisfied
80%
Satisfied
19%
On the fence
6%
On the fence
8%
On the fence
27%
Dissatisfied
56%
Satisfied
12%
Dissatisfied
Yet only 2% aren’t open
to a new job.
How can generally high job satisfaction
accompany such high potential turnover?
There is something much deeper happening to
the collective talent psyche.
Our data reveal a fundamental reset of people’s
relationship with their jobs and the value they
attach to them. And it all comes down to one
thing: work-life balance.
The big contradiction:
People are satisfied.
18

A good
salary
5 in 10 people would choose
mental health and work-life balance And when it comes to career success, people
believe a good salary is much more important
than job satisfaction:
over career success
Job
satisfaction
52% 48%
Job satisfaction is less important because
career success is no longer a main priority.
19

#1
of people are willing to reject
a promotion if they believe it
will have a negative effect on
their well-being.
This has decreased from
the 61% in last year’s study,
showing how important salary
is now considered in our
current economic climate.
20s 48%
48%
30s
45%
40s
India
average 47%
48%
50s
38%
60s+
51%
Hong Kong
48%
Singapore
56%
Taiwan
50%
Japan
42%
Vietnam
47%
Indonesia
48%
Thailand
47%
Chinese Mainland
47%
India
55%
Philippines
57%
Australia
54%
Malaysia
49%
Asia Pacific
37%
People who agree that work-life balance contributes to
positive job satisfaction, by age, and market:
Work-life balance has been
fundamentally rewired.
Work-life balance is the most
significant influencer of job
satisfaction. Greater than pay,
training and development, free
lunches, gym memberships, or
other benefits.
20

47%
without
children
47%
with
children
43%
43%
Human Resources
54%
Marketing
48%
Legal Policy
50%
% of employees who agree that work-life balance
contributes to positive job satisfaction, by job function:
Technology
48%
India average
47%
47%
Finance Accounting
43%
C-suite
45%
45%
50%
43%
Sales
50%
Work-life balance is important to people from all walks of life. Consider that
47% of parents report work-life balance being the most important influence on
job satisfaction, while 47% of people without children say the same. It’s now a
universal need and is no longer a stand-out benefit.
Flexibility is a new basic, alongside pay and career progress. Employers
should ensure that they’re adapting their ways of thinking about the employee
experience to reflect this new reality, placing employee work-life balance and
well-being at the core.
Work-life balance is
important to everyone.
21

47%
of talent ranked
work-life balance
first for job
satisfaction
of talent ranked
career progression
as the second
most important
factor in job
satisfaction
46%
Gratitude, recognition
and appreciation
40%
Competitive salary
38%
Support employees well-being
and mental health
27%
1 2
3
4
5
Top 5 most important job satisfaction factors for talent in India:
The heightened stress and newfound
freedom that people experienced
throughout the pandemic has
permanently changed work culture.
Consider that parents were sitting at the
kitchen table taking work calls on Zoom
and a mere five minutes later helping
their child with their science homework.
The concept of work-life balance changed from being a largely
intangible and hypothetical conversation before the pandemic
to a very real and undeniable aspect of everyday life.
The universal shift that
changed people’s relationship
with work forever.
22

9%
level of influence /
importance for ‘a greater
sense of purpose’ when
considering a
new role.
87%
of people did NOT rank
relationships with their
colleagues in the top 5
most important factors
in company culture
(with only 5% ranking it
as most important).
Because of this work-life balance reset,
company culture has changed, and it
hasn’t been the company’s choice.
More people have come to adopt a transactional approach
to work, viewing their jobs as a means to an end rather
than a source of personal fulfilment. They’re replacing the
emotional benefits of passion, belonging, and purpose
that many derived from their jobs, with more apt and real-
life substitutes, such as from their families, friends, and
communities.
This reset in the work-life value equation has significant
consequences. With the emotional value gained from their job
having been greatly diminished, a person’s job is increasingly
simplified down to the core transactional exchange of their
time and expertise for fair pay.
It is, therefore, unlikely that companies will be able to retain
and attract top talent if they rely solely on non-monetary
incentives to enhance their talent packages.
The Invisible Revolution has led
to the deterioration of emotional
benefits attached to work.
Salary is the:
#1 reason to accept a new role
Most important item in job
advertisement
Most important factor in
company culture
More important than job
satisfaction
Single most influential
recruitment factor

Biggest recruitment
challenge
23

Talent Trends 2023 | The Invisible Revolution 24
21%
of employees asked
their company for a
pay increase in 2022.
Only
With talent empowered to put their values
first, getting a better deal elsewhere is
preferable to asking for a salary increase.
Work-life balance is not simply more
tangible than before; it now has a clear
value equation talent can apply when
evaluating their jobs:
Salary + Career Growth + Flexibility
Employers now have to get these basics right and create
a compelling employee experience.
Few will stay
without better pay.
24

Talent Attraction Index:
Relative strength of the top 10 motivators that best
attract talent
X
9%
Work-life balance / Company culture
9%
A greater sense of purpose
1
7%
Leadership team
2
3
5%
Office location
6%
Company brand
2
1
5%
Healthcare benefits
2
3%
Technology
Indicates
movement
in rank
from 2022
18%
Salary / Compensation
1
16%
Career progression / Promotion
4
2
10%
Flexibility
4
3
What is most important
to talent in deciding on
their next role?
Our Talent Attraction index (see right) shows the relative strength and influence of the
listed factors on motivating talent to join a new company.
The data also indicates how the importance of these factors has shifted from our Talent
Trends 2022 study with the invisible revolution.
The premise of this index is that a company has a greater chance of attracting talent if
they enhance at least one of these influential factors. Similarly, ignoring these factors can
result in companies losing talent to their competitors.
The top 3 factors significantly impact talent, and companies must get them right in their
talent strategies.
Insiders share what it
takes to attract talent
25
25

26
The Work-Life
Equation
Navigating the Invisible Revolution by optimising three critical factors.
26

Salary
Career
Growth
Flexibility
The Work-Life Equation =
+ +
Pay should be fairly
benchmarked for
job satisfaction and
talent attraction
A universal right,
not a privilege — the new
hygiene factor
Differentiate talent
development to
counteract growing
disloyalty and draw in
top talent
How a company approaches the
Work-Life Equation will determine
whether it thrives or survives in the
Invisible Revolution.
While the pandemic has led to a laser focus
on flexibility as an important factor in retaining
and recruiting talent, compensation and career
progression remain two of the most established
components of successful talent management.
The importance of pay and career planning is widely
understood, but what has changed is how talent
views these factors. A vastly more empowered pool
of talent has emerged as a result of the Invisible
Revolution, and they are seeking a more mutually
beneficial working relationship with their employers.
It boils down to a simple trade-off: “what I get”
versus “what I give.”
Transactional. Simple. Clear. Measurable.
This is not about choosing one component of talent
attraction over another. These factors have become
mandatory basics that employers must address
simultaneously. Ultimately, the goal is to reevaluate
the employee-employer relationship in an authentic
way to bring value to both the company and its
employees.value to both the company and its
employees.
27

Salary
Career
Growth
Flexibility
+ +
It is not that people are now more aware of talent shortages and
choose to use that knowledge as leverage with their employers
— it is much more important, nuanced, and emotional than that.
They are motivated by a renewed sense of personal value and, ultimately, by what they want
to achieve in their own lives (not just at work). And how their employer compensates them will
be a core contributor in deciding whether the company they work for should be a part of their
achievement story (as evidenced by our Talent Attraction Index).
28

People
in their 20s
40%
People
without
children
40%
Evidence suggests that pay is falling behind expectations due to the rapid pace of macroeconomic change:
The cost-of-living crisis
is very real:
employees said
they felt impacted by
the cost-of-living
crisis
2 in 5
Pay reviews
are too infrequent:
Some groups feeling more
dissatisfied with their salaries
than others:
have not received a pay
rise in the last two years
16%
People in
temporary
contract roles
45%
Mid-level
management
47%
Our study highlights pay as a
critical area for employers to get
right — careful benchmarking will
enable employers to influence talent
attraction and retention. Getting
salary wrong risks closing off talent
— they are very aware of their value,
and they will act on it. It becomes
even more crucial given the talent
shortage in many industries today.
Having a clear salary strategy and communicating
pay transparency to employees is essential to
ensuring that they are well informed about the
benefits and able to choose the option that best
suits their needs.
No pay, no play.
Discover salary ranges
and compensation trends
across industries
29

Salary information accelerates attraction: Bonuses also present an opportunity to compete for talent:
52%
5 in 10 people did not
receive a bonus last year
of candidates said salary
is the most influential
information in a
job advertisement
of people ranked salary in
their top 3 motivators to join
a new company, making it
the single most influential
recruitment factor
39%
Up to 10%
27%
10% to 20%
5%
30% to 60%
9%
20% to 30%
9%
60% to 100%
11%
Over 100%
31%
For those who received a bonus
last year, the majority received
less than 10% of their annual
income.
The large number of people
who did not receive a bonus
this year shows the large
disparity in what employers
forecasted, with only 10% of
employers saying they would
not offer their employees a
bonus in last years survey.
30

Employers rank
competitive
salaries as the
most important
factor in employee
retention
1st
Employers
perceive salary
increase to
be the most
important talent
attractor
1st
of employers said
matching salary
expectations
was the biggest
recruitment
challenge
50%
This is pertinent as 27% of employers said
salary was the biggest recruitment challenge in
recruitment last year.
Employers are aware of the
importance of salary but
are struggling to keep up.
While employers widely recognise the
importance of salary in both retaining
and attracting top talent, they still report
matching salary expectations as the
biggest recruitment challenge they face.
This struggle highlights the top driver of why many
employers said 2022 was a difficult year for recruitment.
Determine salaries with
our salary benchmark tool
31

The Work-Life
Equation:
Salary
Review your employees’ current salaries as soon as possible. 79% of them will not ask for a raise before
leaving. It will be especially important to prioritise your high-value talent.
Don’t downplay pay and try to distract away from it – it’s too important for talent to trade off for
other benefits.
Pay is the most powerful magnet for talent attraction; it influences retention, but it isn’t a guarantee. With
employee loyalty fading, employers must benchmark salaries with extreme due diligence.
Publish salary information in recruitment advertisements. Knowing that talent is increasingly motivated by
pay, failure to publish salary details will cause your role to be overlooked, and in a talent-short environment,
employers cannot afford to lose prospects.
Additional benefits are not a substitute for salary – employers should recognise that people are driven most
by competitive pay, so budgets will be better allocated to higher salaries.
Companies which have downsized their talent acquisition teams, perhaps due to challenging market
conditions, should consider the benefit of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) solutions to maintain
healthy talent pipelines.
Key insights: How to increase the value of work to your staff:
32

Salary
Career
Growth
Flexibility
+ +
It is evident from our data that the expectation for career
progression and personal growth consistently sits at the forefront
of what motivates people to stay or leave.
The Invisible Revolution has brought with it a talent pool that believes the grass can always
be greener elsewhere, so tapping into that ambition, curiosity, and desire is essential.
It requires leadership to authentically commit to career progression as a critical element
of its company culture and make that believable and actionable through the resulting
employee experience every day. And while offering robust career development to all
employees is a big ask, at a minimum, top talent should feel consistently engaged and
supported to grow.
The more they grow and experience new things, the less motivated they may be to keep
their eyes on job boards.
33

7%
Unhappy with strategy / direction of the company
19%
Looking for a big change (in career, role, or industry)
6%
General dissatisfaction with my current role
5%
Unhappy with current company values and ethics
4%
Current company or industry is performing poorly
3%
Want better non-financial benefits
20%
Career progression / Promotion
9%
Want more flexibility
17%
Work-life balance / Company culture
11%
Not satisfied with current pay / salary
Top reasons for resignation:
people cited career
growth as a reason for
looking for a new job
2 in 5
think it is likely
that they’ll be
promoted
Yet only
2 in 3
Career growth as
a differentiator in
employee value
propositions.
The data indicate an increase in ‘job
bumping’, in which talent intentionally
moves jobs to pursue more senior
positions. This is an effective strategy for
faster career progression, promotion, and
usually an increase in pay.
In this respect, employers have an opportunity - whereas pay
is one area where they must align with the industry, career
progression and development allow them to differentiate
themselves and compete qualitatively for talent.
Don’t sabotage your hiring
by ignoring job hoppers
34

Employees’ ranking
of career growth as a
motivator to join a
new company
2nd
Employers undervalue
the importance of career
growth to employees by
23%
6th
last year’s talent
ranked career growth
6th as a motivator to
join a new company
It might be one of the most traditional
aspects of a company’s retention strategy,
but there is a long way to go before
companies embrace career growth at the
same value as talent do.
With a jump from sixth to second place this year, career
growth has taken over salary as the top reason to change
jobs. Career development shows that the organisation
is committed to its employees’ professional growth. This
comes back to employees expecting employers to deliver
where it counts.
Employers undervalue
career growth.
Discover how mentorship and
sponsorship can develop talent
35

80%
India average
58%
APAC average
50%
Global average
Respondents willing to shift to a different country for a career opportunity:
Top 5 destinations:
USA
1
Australia
4
UAE
5
Singapore
3
Canada
2
would be attracted to
a company if it offered
international transfers.
1 in 4
A growing number of talented individuals from
India are seizing the chance to expand their
horizons and pursue their dreams overseas.
Drawn by the allure of global companies, vibrant work cultures, and
advanced technologies, Indians are eager to relocate, seeking new
challenges and experiences. This wave of ambition is fueled by a
combination of factors, including the desire for higher salaries, diverse
work environments, exposure to international markets, and the chance
to gain valuable skills and knowledge.
Embrace global opportunities
outside the country.
36

43%
have been with their
current employer
for less than
2 years
2 in 5
rank career progression
as a core motivator,
thus typical promotion
cycles may not come
around soon enough,
leading to increased
job hopping.
When did people start their most recent job?
Before 2019 2021
2020
2019 2022
12%
10%
35%
20%
23%
55% found a
new job since
the start of the
pandemic.
Stop the “leaky
bucket” of
attrition through
a commitment
to growth.
In order to protect themselves against potentially high attrition rates, employers
should empathise more with talent’s newly empowered position: they will
evaluate what their employer can offer versus what they could get elsewhere.
They are aware of their options and are in control of the decision to switch jobs.
For employers to effectively recruit and retain top talent, training, career development,
and the resulting compensation should all be clearly defined to minimise attrition for new joiners.
37

The Work-Life
Equation:
Career
Growth
Ensure that the pay is aligned with the market, and compete for talent by focusing on career
advancement and promotion-the second highest motivator for talent after pay.
Career development must be transparent, integrated into company culture, and authentically delivered
through the employee experience.
Develop a progression pathway for ambitious employees; adjust the period of time between promotion
and retirement to below two years in order to improve retention and ensure compensation keeps pace
with seniority.
26% of candidates prioritise working for a company that invests in their professional development;
thus, employers should clearly define and even publish their talent development capabilities.
Key insights on how to combat disappearing employee loyalty by delivering better long-term personal value:
How to build a learning
culture in your company
38

Salary
Career
Growth
Flexibility
+ +
A universal right,
not a privilege.
Good work-life balance is a non-negotiable expectation for
today’s talent. It is an excellent opportunity for employers to
refine flexibility to provide an outstanding employee experience.
39

The most important aspects of flexibility:
Flexible working hours
73%
Hybrid / flexible
working arrangement
75%
And across these job functions:
80%
Parents
81%
People in their 40s and 50s
83%
People with top-level managerial responsibilities
% of people who said hybrid working is most important:
79%
People with senior-level managerial responsibilities
82%
Sales
85%
78%
Human Resources
79%
C-suite
77%
People in their 30s
76%
Women
75%
Parents
81%
People with mid-level managerial responsibilities
% of people who said flexible working hours are most
important:
78%
Marketing
78%
77%
Human Resources
And across these job functions:
80%
Be flexible
on flexibility.
While talent, on the whole,
demands flexibility, the
experience of flexibility
at work is entirely individual.
Flexibility preferences and
needs are highly individualised.
40

Positive sentiments towards the four-day workweek:
59%
55%
66%
71%
Would improve employee well-being and happiness
Is a very appealing reason to join a company
Would improve productivity
64%
58%
Talent
Talent
Talent
Employers
Employers
Employers
Flexibility demands
bigger, bolder thinking.
Flexibility has now become a standard
offering, not one that helps a company
stand out. It needs out-of-the-box thinking
that drives meaningful impact that
employees experience and feel every day.
An example of bold thinking in flexible work models is the four-day
workweek. While it may seem unconventional and nonconforming
to many, it reimagines the employee experience that leads both
talent and employers to a perception of increased employee well-
being, happiness, and productivity, thereby creating a compelling
reason to join a company.
To make flexibility a unique and compelling part of their
employee value propositions, companies are exploring several
other bold ideas too, such as:
•
Unlimited vacation days
•
‘Work from anywhere’ policies (even in a different country
altogether)
•
Reimagining the very purpose of offices by redesigning them
as co-creation spaces meant for teams to gather (meetings,
brainstorms, workshops, etc.) instead of around individual
workspaces
Get tips on creating
a positive employee
experience
41

Employers
overvalue flexibility
importance to
employees by
a whopping
110%
Employers
undervalue
work-life balance
importance to
employees by
29%
Talent’s ranking
of flexibility as a
motivator to join
a new company
3rd
Moving beyond flexibility
as a hygiene factor.
When it comes to what is most valuable to
people when choosing their next job opportunity,
employers overvalue flexibility relative to the
influence employees give it.
This isn’t because it isn’t important to talent (we’ve already clearly
established that it is critical), but because many companies still tend to push
a relatively generic flexibility “product” to their staff and prospective hires.
In order to use flexibility as a unique differentiator,
companies should think bigger and bolder.
It starts with one of the most significant challenges in flexibility at work: it
requires a shift in how companies evaluate employee performance and value
on an everyday basis.
Even a cursory look at employer review sites like Glassdoor would reveal
that, whether intentional or unconscious, there are still many managers that
measure the day-to-day contributions of their teams by how many hours
they work, how many days they come into the office, and even by how often
their status is set to ‘Away’. What employers should be more conscious of
now is a mindset shift that establishes an employee’s value and defines it by
the quality of their work, not by the journey they took to get there.
An unfiltered peek into job
seekers’ minds by Reddit
42

Openness to non-permanent positions:
Temporary
roles
Fixed-term contract Freelancing /
Self-employed
Yes
Only if unable to
find permanent
position
No
45%
26%
29%
25%
46%
29%
33%
38%
28%
Given all the changes we’ve mentioned
throughout this report, there has never
been more pressure on a company’s
human resources and talent teams to drive
meaningful change.
Realistically, however, even if companies fully commit to delivering
on the Work-Life Equation, there are only so many holes you can
plug in the leaky bucket. Attrition is simply a part of our reality.
On top of this, economic uncertainty means companies are
considering which hires are most important, and which can wait
until conditions improve. Thus, an openness to exploring more
non-permanent hiring solutions through alternative contracts is
being considered by many companies.
In fact, 2 in 5 employers plan on increasing part-time, fixed-term,
and temporary contracts this year.
Fortunately, the talent market has embraced these alternative
non-permanent employment options not merely as a last option
if a permanent role isn’t available, but for many as a first choice to
deliver the flexibility they need in their lives.
HR and talent teams
need flexibility too.
However, in worse-case scenarios where companies implement layoffs, the HR and talent
staff remaining will need greater support. In these instances, an option for many companies of
various sizes and industries worth considering is to embrace recruitment process outsourcing
(RPO) solutions. Outsourcing solutions that can be scaled up or down based on a company’s
need will give leaner teams the support they need without compromising on the quality of
incoming talent.
How companies can benefit
from recruitment outsourcing
43

Flexibility
The Work-Life
Equation:
Find out how to succeed
with workplace flexibility
Key insights for embracing flexibility as the new workplace basic:
Stop waiting for things to “return to normal” — the way we work has forever changed. Companies that
transform their mindsets from simply tolerating flexibility to one of embracing it as a good business strategy
will have significantly better retention rates.
People don’t want hard and fast rules when it comes to flexibility — they want your trust to make the right
decisions. Companies that focus on adaptive flexibility policies that aim to deliver at an individual level and
avoid one-size-fits-all rules will have a much better chance of limiting the leaky bucket this year.
Unless a company’s approach to flexibility is holistic and end-to-end, using benefits like hybrid work as a
selling point will not stand out to prospective talent. Instead, they become a hygiene factor in a job ad akin
to vacation policy.
The Invisible Revolution has resulted in out-of-the-box, people-first concepts as increasingly feasible
when it comes to productivity and job satisfaction. Companies that encourage their HR and talent teams to
develop progressive plans as a core driver of company culture will thrive in this hyper-transformative new
talent era.
As preference for part-time and non-permanent roles move from a last resort option to a first-choice
preference, flexible hiring will not only help companies with headcount challenges in the year ahead but also
may unlock valuable talent pools that otherwise would not have been in the market.
Companies that have had to downsize their talent acquisition teams should evaluate the potential benefit
of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) solutions as a means of supporting lean teams and maintaining
healthy talent pipelines.
44

Summary
Thrive or survive: the choice is yours.
45
45

Three recommendations.
Benchmark pay
Pay has always been important, but our data
shows it has never mattered more to workers than
it does right now. One key element of the ‘Invisible
Revolution’ is that people are intentionally increasing
the monetisation of their time; they won’t accept
lower pay if they can earn more elsewhere, they
aren’t willing to trade off pay for progression, and
they dismiss any other benefit until pay meets the
necessary benchmark.
For this reason, it is essential to stay on top of what
the competition is paying, whether you are looking
to hire new staff or retain top talent. At PageGroup,
we produce a suite of salary guides each year
and can also provide real-time data on salary
benchmarking and market trends.
Click here to find out more.
Knowledge is power when
competing for top talent.
Rethink your
resourcing model
This report unequivocally proves that the much-
trumpeted Great Resignation never ended – rather
than being a blip, higher attrition is now a longer-
term reality for many employers. Loyalty has lost its
lustre for many workers, with even ‘happy’ staff now
open to being tempted away with the promise of
better pay, flexibility and conditions.
Against this backdrop, we believe many employers
will need to rethink their hiring models — and
quickly. For some companies, recruitment will need
to be continuous, rather than on-demand, to keep
up. It will likely comprise a blend of permanent,
contract and flexible options. And working with a
trusted recruitment partner and being able to flex
the model according to evolving needs will be the
key to meeting the challenges of a world where
loyalty is low, but change is continuous.
Less loyalty = more frequent hiring.
Review your EVP
As we have explored, the role of work has
fundamentally shifted for talent around the world,
becoming more transactional in the process. Work-
life balance, career development and progression,
values, and leadership have been clearly highlighted
as key elements of this Invisible Revolution.
We believe that the best way for companies to
demonstrate they can meet the needs of the people
who work for them is through a clearly articulated
employee value proposition (EVP). This should go
way beyond pay and flexibility and get to the nub of
the issue: at a time when loyalty is at a premium, how
and why should people connect with their employer
on a human level? Reflecting worker priorities in an
EVP could be a great differentiator when it comes to
hiring new staff or retaining existing talent.
Culture is the ultimate spark
for significant change.
46

Will you use the Invisible
Revolution as an opportunity
to thrive, or will you simply
aim to survive?
The decision is yours
and the moment is now.
47

Contact us
Contact us
Hungry for
more data?
What we’ve detailed in this report is a mere fraction of the
insights we have to share. Along with our Talent Trends 2023
survey data, we have a suite of other proprietary data sources
in our Page Insights Data Centre to provide data-led guidance
on numerous valuable topics to boost your talent strategy and
EVP development (such as salary data, talent supply, ease
of hire, time to hire, reward packages, benefits, DEI, values
and culture, sustainability, and many more).
Our premium PageInsights+ services deliver custom data
research tailored to your specific needs. To learn more:
If you are a member of the press looking for real-time
expert insights into our data:
48

Global Talent Trends 2023 | The Invisible Revolution 49
About PageGroup
Talent Trends 2023 | India | The Invisible Revolution 49

12
27
~1,800
APAC
Markets
Offices
Consultants
A global business
with local knowledge,
experience and
understanding.
Every year, we have the opportunity
to influence thousands of lives and
hundreds of organisations and we take
that responsibility very seriously.
Your regional recruitment partner
For over 40 years, PageGroup has developed regional
expertise from a global platform, offering you the best
recruitment solution for your business.
We pride ourselves in understanding the local business
environment and economy to be able to provide excellent
service. We offer specialist recruitment solutions for your
business needs by developing our consultants in specific job
and industry disciplines based on their skills, qualifications
and practical industry knowledge.
Stability you can trust
In the Asia Pacific region, our specialist recruitment
consultants are supported by a stable senior management
team, ensuring we deliver a consistent service to your
business every time, across the region.
Every member of our regional management team has over
15 years of PageGroup experience as well as a wealth of
commercial and geographical expertise, adding significant
value to our recruitment partnerships.
The expertise and reach you need to grow
Supported by an extensive regional and global network of
offices, we have been bringing together the world’s best
employers and brightest professionals for over 40 years.
We have the global strength to think and act beyond the
boundaries of location or business function, and the local
knowledge, cultural understanding and language skills to
deliver real value.
Let us apply the strength of our global and regional
resources to help you achieve your goals.
50

Are you hiring?
Based on your recruitment needs,
we have three internationally
recognised and respected brands
(Page Executive, Michael Page,
and Page Outsourcing) ready to
help you find the right talent for
your business.
Scan or click on the relevant
QR code to get in touch with
one of our consultants.
Executive
search
Page Executive is the
executive recruitment division
of PageGroup and provides
a range of search, selection
and talent management
solutions. We are recognised
for our powerful in-house
research function, the speed
and flexibility of our response,
and our high success rates
in finding qualified and
experienced professionals
for senior management
and C-level roles.
Qualified
professionals
Michael Page provides
specialised recruitment
services for professionals
at middle management to
leadership levels, along
with highly specialised
technical positions.
Flexible recruitment
outsourcing
Page Outsourcing designs
and implements full outsource
recruitment solutions such as
RPO, MSP, TTA, RPO light for
project based high-volume
hiring needs and recruitment
advisory. We offer bespoke
and flexible talent solutions
adapted to any hiring needs
across industries and locations.
51

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