A survey conducted by Filipino software as a service company Sprout solutions found that the Philippines logged an increase in attrition rate across all industries.
“The average voluntary attrition rate in 2020 was 1.31 percent. In 2021, it rose to 2.27 percent, a 73-percent increase in average voluntary attrition across different industries. That’s almost double,” said Sprout Solutions chief product officer Kislay Chandra.
Various factors can influence an employee’s decision to resign. The study revealed some of the reasons behind the spike in attrition like abrupt changes in the working setup, a lack of work-life balance and uncertainty over the pandemic.
These have taken a toll on some employees, especially on their mental health. Management decisions such as lay-offs, salary cuts and other cost-cutting measures also had a role to play.
The pandemic also led people to assess their current situations, giving them more time to think about what they truly wanted. “Some were encouraged to pursue their dream jobs, while others had other plans like being a stay-at-home parent,” said Sprout chief people and customer officer Arlene De Castro.
Respondents of the study cited safety reasons for leaving their jobs. Some workers are still concerned about the virus and their health, especially if their workplace plans to return to on-site work.
According to the study, the top industries most affected by the changing environment are professional, scientific and technical services industry with increased attrition rate of 274 percent, while the construction industry posted 120 percent.
The arts, entertainment and recreation industry increased by 207 percent, and the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities industry increased by 185 percent, while the information and communication industry experienced a 117.14-percent increase.
“There are various possible reasons why these industries were hit the hardest, but we can’t definitely say it without data. This is what we are looking into with our second study on ‘The Great Resignation in the Philippines’, where we will be deep diving on the reasons why employees are leaving their current posts,” said De Castro.
Social distancing protocols and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated the transformation of our current traditional work model, making the hybrid workplace the viable option, she said.
De Castro cited a Cisco workforce of the future study conducted in the Philippines where 18 percent of the respondents have been working from home prior to the pandemic, but during the pandemic, that number rose to 93 percent.
“Built on the pillars of flexibility and support, the hybrid model gives employees the freedom to choose when and/or when they want to work. For on-site workers in the Philippines who still report for in-office work during the pandemic, they have been reevaluating their priorities and now want the best of both world. In order for the hybrid model to work in the Philippine setting, it must be inclusive, flexible, secure, and well-managed,” she said.
According to Sprout‘s study on The Future of Work, 47 percent of work-from-office leaders want to adopt the hybrid work model and 62 percent of WFO leaders see hybrid or remote work as the future.
The 42 percent of WFO employees respondents are enthusiastic about adopting a hybrid working environment and in fact, 34 percent of them prefer hybrid over their current work from office setup.
Those who are on a work-from-home arrangement likewise see the value of going hybrid, with 52 percent of WFH employees saying that implementing a hybrid workplace is extremely important with 82 percent saying they love their setup because they save expenses on travel/commute. Of the respondents, only 36 percent of WF) feel excited to return to the office.
De Castro says employee safety is the number one priority of the present workforce.
“The shift to a hybrid model isn’t as established within different organizations from different industries. What works best—especially for at-office teams—will still depend on various factors such as their sector, size, and structure,” said Sprout Solutions head of business development and HR Lester Ople.
“Most companies are on the same page when it comes to making the post-pandemic office as flexible and less burnout-prone as possible,” he said.
The good news, he noted, is that 64 percent of HR working in the office are seeing a hybrid workplace in the future, post-pandemic. They agree that the time spent at the office may end up being more productive, deliberate, and collaborative and this can be achieved with the right tools.
“With Sprout’s cloud-based solutions, we empowered organizations by providing them a way to manage attendance, payroll, and even their employees’ mental well-being. We then acted on our vision of Sprout as an Ecosystem, where employee engagement, wellness, and performance could all be tracked in one people-platform,” he said.
Ople reminds that functions will go well beyond time-keeping to make the hybrid model work, reason why HR professionals should always keep track of how employees are doing even on remote work or hybrid work setup.
This practice enables transparency and trust and makes employees feel important and engaged within the company.