Workforce confidence has declined as COVID-19 pandemic takes its toll on the job market. However, women and Gen Z are particularly impacted, revealed the LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index. Working women are 2x more likely to be worried about the availability of jobs as compared to working men. They are also likely to be 4x less confident to working men.
LinkedIn surveyed 1,891 professionals from May 8 to June 4 and found out that Indian professionals have been left increasingly vulnerable to the economic uncertainty of the job market. The overall workforce confidence that peaked in March has dropped four points to +54. Creative industries including entertainment, design, media and communications were left to bear the brunt. However, professionals from software and IT, and hardware and networking were increasingly confident about the future of their organisations.
SHECESSION
Second wave has worsened the situation for women employees. The individual confidence index (ICI) scores of female professionals fell from +57 in March to +49 in early June, which translates to a 4x decline compared to working men (+58 in March to +56 in June).
The networking platform found that women are 2x likely to be more worried about the availability of jobs, their professional network and time devoted to job seeking than men.
"This uneven impact has also bruised the financial stability of working women as 1 in 4 (23 per cent) female professionals are concerned about growing expenses or debt, in contrast with just 1 in 10 (13 per cent) working men," stated the survey.
GEN Z VS BABY BOOMERS
The impact of the pandemic has amplified the importance of work experience and professional connections. Young Indians are 2.5x as worried as compared to their older colleagues. Nearly 30 per cent of Gen Z professionals and 26 per cent of millennials are troubled due to lack of jobs, but only 18 per cent of Baby Boomers are worried about the same.
One in four Gen Z (23 per cent) and millennials (24 per cent) are worried about debt or expenses but only 13 per cent of Baby Boomers are worried about the same.
BALANCE AT WORK
Apart from job benefits, flexibility and work-life balance are equally important today. Self care now have a greater priority for job seekers. "While 1 in 2 job-seekers value employee benefits (55 per cent) and salary (53 per cent) more post COVID-19, an equal number of job-seekers are found prioritising work-life balance (48 per cent) and location flexibility (50 per cent) when looking for a job today," the survey stated.
Workplace culture (43 per cent), internal movement and promotions (44 per cent), and a visible commitment to diversity and inclusion (42 per cent) are equally important to job seekers today.
Ashutosh Gupta, India Country Manager, LinkedIn said, "Remote jobs can be the ray of hope, to provide the much-needed flexibility and growth in opportunities to help them bounce back into the workforce."
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