randstad international trends and workplace survey report

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2 preface Dear customer, Welcome to the annual Randstad. We are pleased to present the issue. On the following pages we provide you with the results that we collected from companies operating within various industries on important topics affecting your business, for all the different markets and geographic regions in which they operate. During October 2011 until February our consultants interviewed 1,799 key decision makers and human resources executives across 13 countries. This year s results explore subjects related to the economy, talent and recruiting, sustainability, and compensation and benefits. The employment market is continuously changing, not in the least brought on by the volatility of the economic environment. While companies have been focused on emphasizing their core competencies, they are also planning for the future, in order to remain competitive and successful and grasp opportunities for growth. This year s Survey discusses these and many other industry insights, and an executive summary highlights our key findings. We remain focused on providing the quality talent your teams need to impact your organization s bottom line and its future success. Although the content of this publication has been composed with the outmost care, the publisher cannot be held responsible for any errors and omissions which may occur. No rights may be derived from this document. Sincerely, Ben Noteboom CEO Randstad Holding This survey has been conducted by ICMA Group, Waterloo Belgium. 2 Randstad 3

3 contents 1 structure of the report In this report, the following items will be considered: Key findings Overview on the main findings identified through the results of the survey. Company Here you will find the details about the companies that have participated in the survey. Participant profile This section provides detailed information about the decision makers that have answered the questions. Challenges Challenges that are affecting the organization or that the company has to take into account in the future. HR and benefits Details are given in this chapter on recruitment resources and processes within the company. In addition, a description of the benefits that companies provide to their employees and if changes occurred due to the current economic situation. 1 Structure of the report 5 2 Key findings 6 3 Company 10 4 Participant profile 12 5 Challenges 14 6 HR and benefits 16 7 Employment trends 20 8 Economic impact and outlook 22 Employment trends Gives a picture if these companies are willing to hire temporary or permanent staff and how this recruitment process is conducted. Economic impact and outlook Provides information on how the current economic situation has an impact on the organizations initiatives and their future perspectives. 4 Randstad Randstad 5

4 key findings 2 I General The Randstad report, presents the results of in depth interviews among 1,799 key decision makers with companies in 13 countries. Fieldwork took place from October 2011 until February. The manufacturing/industry and financial services constitute the largest group of our sample with 15%. Organizations defined within the computer, software services and internet sector are also relatively well represented. The sectors vary from country to country as some countries focused on some specific sectors (e.g. UK on engineering) while others were also focused on totally different sectors (e.g. India on construction, real estate and property management). Most interviewed companies have a workforce of more than 1,000 people. In Belgium, Greece, Spain and Turkey, companies generally work with fewer employees. Overall, 45% are part of a > 500 million euro company which indicates they are part of a multinational organization or are associated with one. The Enterprise Resource Planning software SAP and Microsoft as the operating system are by far the most common IT technologies used. In India, most respondents use Oracle. Looking more in detail at the participants profile we can see that the most shared job title is manager followed at considerable distance by directors, mostly working within HR. They found their current position mainly by means of professional contacts, referrals but also by recruitment companies and internal promotion. In China, print advertising is more popular and in Argentina and Turkey 25% have been promoted internally. The use of more traditional resources is also visible when looking at how the respondents keep current on business trends, namely by networking, newspapers, professional associations and educational seminars. However, it should be noted that networking through social networking sites such, as LinkedIn are very popular as well. Besides networking, the respondents use these sites to connect with friends to recruit and to explore job opportunities. Results show that 9 out of 10 of those who use it (about 2 out of 3) claim that recruiting via social network is successful. In some countries, other tools are popular to be kept informed. In China and The Netherlands, trade journals are frequently used and web based sources (blogs, enewsletters) are relatively widespread in Belgium, Greece and The Netherlands. II Challenges The 2 main key productivity challenges for identified within the companies surveyed is, to develop leadership skills for the next phase of growth and to fill in critical vacancies created by business expansion. The knowledge loss created by increased employee turnover is also a main priority in Argentina and India, while the lack of specialist skills to drive innovation is frequently mentioned in Sweden and in UK. Government legislation impacting workforce flexibility only appears to be a challenge in Greece. The top 4 challenges identified within HR are: 1. Increasing performance and productivity 2. Developing talented leaders 3. Attracting talent for the next phase of growth 4. Avoiding losing top talent to competitors. At country level, companies sometimes have to deal with other priorities. Companies in China, Greece and Italy indicate they will focus on managing internal change programs. Managing skill shortage is a major priority in UK. III HR and benefits Most organizations in our sample appear to be adequately staffed. Nevertheless, 30% of the companies are understaffed. Recruitment companies, employees referrals and company websites are the primarily sources when recruiting talent. Some countries prefer other methods. Print advertising is still frequently used in Australia, Belgium, Greece, Hungary and Sweden, while college recruiting is especially popular in China and job boards in Argentina, China and Turkey. Outsourcing recruitment to specialized companies like executive search firms is a common practice in China, India and Italy. Despite the economic downturn, more than 56% of the companies hired permanent staff in 2011 (highest percentages in India and Turkey, lowest in China and UK) and 43% of the companies hired interim (highest percentages in The Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium, lowest in China and Greece). Reference checks and degree verifications are the main standard background checks conducted in a hiring process. Credit checks are frequently conducted in Argentina and China, criminal checks in Australia, China and Turkey. The main reasons organisations fail to attract talent include strong competition for available talent, ongoing talent shortages and uncompetitive salaries. In Sweden, Belgium, Hungary, Spain and Sweden respondents are also concerned with a possible lack of internal 6 Randstad Randstad 7

5 2 career opportunities. Respondents in Belgium, Hungary and Turkey indicate the poor reputation of organizations / employer brand is a possible factor in failing to attract talent, while interviewees in Sweden point at ineffective recruitment strategies. Bonuses, career development, medical insurance, competitive salary and education are the most common benefits within the organizations. In Australia Belgium, Hungary and The Netherlands, flexible working options are frequently mentioned. Life insurances are most popular in China and Belgium. Pension plans are attractive in Belgium, Sweden and UK. Only in Sweden wellness benefits are frequently offered. The most important leadership competencies for managers identified in this survey are: 1. Ability to motivate and inspire others. 2. Adapt to changing business demands. 3. Build a strong vision for the future. Analyse and problem solving skills are also frequently mentioned in most countries. Additionally we identified that more than 1 out of 4 of the respondents believe that their managers or employees have the ability to effectively adapt to change in business demands. 1 out of 2 are more hesitating. Confidence is highest in Argentina and lowest in India. staff in finance, IT and engineering. Only 27% of the companies claim that they do not expect to have problems recruiting skilled personnel in the industry they operate in. Companies in Greece, Spain and Sweden expect the fewest problems. The most positive outcome when looking specifically at the employment trend is that 47% are currently hiring new staff and 39% anticipate they will in. V Economic impact and outlook The consequences for those who have been impacted predominately resulted in budget cuts, freezing recruitment and employee layoffs. Compensation cuts are a common measure in global Randstad presence Greece, Hungary and Spain, while the elimination of consultants and temporary employees is frequent in Belgium, Italy and The Netherlands. Nearly 80% of all the interviewed organizations say they did not experience an impact on loyalty due to the economic downfall. Loyalty has especially been impacted in The Netherlands. Positively, the economic crisis allowed about 1 out of 3 of the respondents to negotiate better terms with suppliers, encourage employees to think differently and take restructuring measures. In Belgium, Sweden, China and UK, targeting new customer segments and creating new partnerships also constitute a crisis related opportunity. Respondents from India see an improvement of products or services and an optimization of technology as a direct result of the economic crisis. Moreover, nearly half of all respondents believe they will recover from the current economic situation after. This can be demonstrated by the fact that nearly 55% of the companies observed an increased sales volume during 2011 while 8% remained stable. Another positive signal, we can mention is that 53% expect growth in, especially China and Turkey. Italy and The Netherlands are far less optimistic. IV Employment trends When asking the question, in which departments the most layoffs occurred in the year 2011, it mainly appeared within operations, accounting/finance and marketing. In The Netherlands and Sweden HR has been relatively more impacted; in Greece, Hungary and Italy the Sales department. On the other hand, 30% say that they currently have a shortage in skills, especially in UK, Australia, China, Belgium and Argentina. When asking how they are going to tackle this issue, more than 1 out of 2 responded they would handle it by education and training. In UK, Sweden and Belgium an increasing use of externally hired contractors appears to be a frequent solution. Companies in India mainly check no 1 market position intend to hire talent from other countries. Companies are especially anticipating hiring qualified professionals. In engineering and IT departments, 22% intend to hire qualified professionals. About 1 out of 4 do not consider hiring Andorra Angola Argentina Australia Belgium Brazil Canada Chile China / Hong Kong Czech Republic Denmark France Germany Greece Hungary India Italy Japan Luxembourg Malaysia Mexico Mozambique Netherlands New Zealand Norway Poland Portugal Singapore Slovakia Spain Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland Thailand Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay N = 1799 Country with offices of Randstad 8 Randstad Country names in purple = took part of this survey 9

6 company 3 The key productivity challenge for organizations is to develop leadership skills for the next phase of growth. Figure 3.1 Industries Figure 3.2 Size of company (total level) Manufacturing / Industry 15% Financial services 15% Computer / Software services / Internet 13% 12% 55% Engineering 11% Construction / Retail estate / Property management 6% 33% 0-50 million million > 500 million Healthcare / Medical / Pharma 5% FMCG 5% Figure 3.3 Overall company s size Services B-to-B 3% Telecommunications 3% Transportation / Logistics 2% 45% 29% Food services 2% Government / Public / Nonprofit 2% Other 16% 26% 0-50 million million > 500 million This section shows an overview of the companies who participated. It provides information about the size of the company, the industry it is operating in, the number of employees within the organization and per department. Further information is given about the software systems and IT systems that are most frequently used. The main sectors included in this survey are manufacturing/industry and financial services. Computer, software and internet services are also relatively well represented as shown in fig In India, a quarter of our sample works in the construction, real estate and property management sector, while in UK the overwhelming majority is active in engineering. Results show that 12% of the companies in their own country belong to the > 500 million group. The remaining companies are spread over the up to 50 million group (55%) and the million group (33%). If we take a closer look at the overall size of these companies we observe that nearly half belong to a > 500 million organization, meaning they are part of a multinational or are associated with one (as illustrated in figures 3.2 and 3.3). From these companies 1 out of 5 are either headquarters of national organizations (esp. Argentina) or branches/sister companies of multinationals (esp. China). About 20% are central (esp. Sweden) or regional (esp. India) headquarters of multinationals. Companies operating as branches of national organizations are represented by only 5%. About 30% of the surveyed companies operate a workforce above 1000 employees (esp. Australia and India) 17% work with 101 to 250 employees (esp. Belgium). In third place we find organizations that employ between 251 and 500 people (esp.sweden). Looking in detail at the number of employees, we note that companies are often organized in either large departments with up to 50 people or small departments with less than 10 employees. Middle groups are represented to a lesser extent. Especially engineering departments are largely staffed. Finance and IT departments are generally smaller (less than 10 people), although larger groups are also well represented. The Enterprise Resource Planning SAP (33%) is the most frequently used software tool within these organizations. Oracle (15%) follows at considerable distance, but is the primary software system in India. Microsoft is the leading operating system, but is barely used in India. 10 Randstad Randstad 11

7 participant profile 4 Networking by means of social networking sites, such as LinkedIn are very popular to keep current on business trends. Figure 4.3 How did you find your current position? Figure 4.4 Methods you use to network This chapter provides descriptive information regarding the persons that have been interviewed. Items such as the sector they work in, their job title and the number off staff members that are reporting to them. Information is also given on how they find their current position, the degrees and the certifications that are the most common in their line of business. Also illustrated are the methods they use to network and to keep up with current business trends. Figure 4.1 Job level title 44% Management level 17% Director level 9% Employee level 9% Supervisor level 8% CEO / CFO / COO level 4% Vice President level 4% Controller level 1% Ass. Controller level 4% Other 44% hold a manager title and 17% operate as directors (fig. 4.1). As shown in fig. 4.2, HR is the overruling department that participated to the survey. Finance represents a large part of our sample in Australia, The Netherlands and Sweden. Engineering is the main department in India, employing more 35% of the respondents here. More than 1 out of 5 have 3 to 4 people reporting Figure 4.2 Department 58% HR 17% Finance 5% Sales / Marketing 4% IT 8% Engineering 8% Other directly to them. 45% have no employees reporting to them indirectly. Most participants found their current position by means of professional contact and referrals (fig. 4.3). Recruitment companies also play a role in finding the right job. In China, print advertising is popular, while in Argentina and Turkey 1 out of 4 have been promoted internally. Professional contact / referral 22% Recruitment company 19% Executive search firm 12% Internal promotion 11% Print advertising 9% Internet job board 6% Company website 4% Internal recruiter 3% Professional networking site 2% Job fair 1% Other 10% From the profiles that we have interviewed, more than half hold a BA/BS and nearly 30% a MBA degree. In Sweden, most respondents are graduated in Accounting or Finance and in Belgium 27% of the respondents hold a master of social sciences. Most interviewees in Italy have a master in economics. 1 out of 3 have been with their company between 1 and 3 years and about 1 out of 4 between 4 and 6 years. In Belgium we find the largest group of respondents with the most years of service and in Turkey the largest group with the lowest seniority. The preferred methods to network include professionals networking sites, conferences and conventions. Notable is that social networking sites are quite popular as well. Mentors and coaches are considerably less popular as a support to network, as is shown in fig In Sweden, India and Turkey, alumni associations are frequently used to network. For Turkey, China and Argentina, we also need to mention social networking sites as primary networking source. To keep up with current business trends, illustrated in fig. 4.5, we can see that networking, newspapers, professional associations and educational seminars are the most frequently used resources (more than 1 out of 2), closely followed by professional Conferences / conventions 54% Professionals networking sites 53% Social networking sites 31% Alumni associations 30% Higher level professionals 28% Mentors and coaches 14% Other 5% No answer 7% networking sites (LinkedIn) and trade journals. Networking by means of social networking sites, such as LinkedIn are very popular to keep current on business trends. Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are mentioned by more than 40% of our respondents in Turkey, while web based sources (blogs, enewsletters) are popular among respondents in Belgium, Greece, Hungary and The Netherlands. Government tax authorities are rarely cited, except in Greece (28%). When looking at the membership to social networks, the most common with 90% is LinkedIn. 44% of the interviewed use Facebook and 16% connect with Twitter. The overall part of the respondents use these sites to network, although nearly half say they also use it to connect with family and friends and about 40% to recruit. Figure 4.5 Resources most frequently used to keep up with business trends Networking 56% Newspapers 55% Professional associations 53% Educational seminars 50% Professional networking sites ( ) 47% Trade journals 42% Web based sources (blogs, enewsletters) 27% Social networking sites (, ) 16% Government tax authorities 10% Other 3% No answer 3% 12 Randstad Randstad 13

8 challenges 5 The key productivity challenge for organizations is to develop leadership skills for the next phase of growth. Figure 5.1 Challenges within HR Increasing performance and productivity 52% 10% Developing talented leaders 37% 11% Attracting talent for the next phase of growth 36% 13% Avoid losing top talent to competitors 36% 16% Managing skill shortage 27% 13% Manage internal change programs 27% 15% Manage salary expectations 22% 13% Retaining top performers 9% 9% Other 7% 86% Figure 5.2 Key productivity challenges the organization will face in Developing leadership skills for the next phase of growth 49% Figure 5.3 How would you rate your department / organization s ability to meet this challenge? Filling critical vacancies created by business expansion 38% Knowledge loss created by increased employee turnover 30% Lack of specialist skills to drive innovation 28% Lack of skills to benefit from advancements in technology 18% 31% 14% Government legislation impacting workforce flexibility 18% Employees accessing online media during work hours 6% No answer 8% 54% Short but detailed overview of some of the challenges the companies are facing within their organisation or department in the current climate. Asking organizations about the key productivity challenge, the most frequent answer is to develop leadership skills for the next phase of growth, followed by the challenge to fill in critical vacancies created by business expansion. Knowledge loss created by increased employee turnover constitutes another major challenge, as illustrated in fig Only 6% see employees assessing online media during work hours as a productivity problem. Conclusively it should be noted that in the future, the need for skilled professionals having the ability to innovate both in businesslike matters would be huge. The lack of specialist skills to drive innovation is frequently mentioned by respondents in Sweden and UK, while government legislation impacting workforce flexibility only appears to be a real challenge in Greece. Taking a closer look at challenges within HR, we see in fig. 5.1 that increasing productivity and performance is one of the most recognized challenges, along with developing talented leaders, attracting talent for the next phase of growth and avoiding loss of top talent. In China, Greece and Italy, respondents indicate they will concentrate on managing internal change programs. In UK, HR teams are facing problems related to skill shortage. Only 31% of the participants highly believe that their organization has the ability to handle these challenges. 55% give a score of 6 or 7 on a scale to 10, and are thus more hesitating. 14% mention they do not think their organization has capabilities to undertake the required actions (fig. 5.3). Respondents in Greece and Hungary are most convinced of the successful outcome of their companies actions. 14 Randstad Randstad 15

9 HR and benefits 6 Companies need mainly managers that have the ability to motivate and inspire others. Figure 6.1 Most important leaderschip competencies for your managers Figure 6.2 Do you consider your organization currently... Figure 6.3 Ability to effectively adapt to changing business demands? total no answer Ability to motivate and inspire others 65% 10% 62% 28% 19% Adapt to changing business demands 53% 15% Vision for the future 52% 13% 62% 8% Analyze and problem solving skills 47% 19% 30% Building trusted relationships 45% 13% Ability to innovate and drive creativity 39% 14% 8% 30% Adequately staffed Under staffed Over staffed 28% 53% 19% 53% In this section you will find specific information on HR questions regarding competencies and employment items. Further it provides an overview on the resources they use to recruit people and the benefits they offer within their organization. The top 3 of the most important leadership skills that have been identified for managers are the ability to motivate and inspire others, adapting to changing business demands and building a strong vision for the future (fig. 6.1). Analyze and problem solving skills are frequently mentioned by respondents in Spain and Turkey. Building trusted relationships and the ability to innovate and drive creativity are crucial skills in Australia and UK respectively. As shown in fig. 6.2 most organizations say they are adequately staffed. Nevertheless, 30% indicate their organizations are understaffed. Moreover, results show that nearly 30% of the organizations believe their employees or managers have the ability to adapt to change in business demands effectively. Half of the respondents seem to be more hesitating and about 20% clearly lack Figure 6.4 What could be the reasons for your organization to fail in attracting top talent? Strong competition for available talent 50% Ongoing talent shortages 30% Uncompetitive salary and/or benefits 26% Lack of internal career opportunities 24% Industry is less appealing as it used to be 21% Poor reputation of organization / employer brand 18% Lack of flexible work options 13% Ineffective recruitment strategies 11% Lack of corporate social responsibility 3% Other 10% confidence (fig. 6.3). Interviewees in Argentina are most confident whereas their colleagues in India are least confident. The main reason that organizations fail to attract top talent is the strong competition for available talent, as shown in fig Other reasons include ongoing talent shortages and uncompetitive salary or benefits. The lack of social responsibility has little impact and should not be taken into account. The lack of internal career opportunities is a key factor in Sweden, Belgium, Hungary and Spain, while the less appealing character of the industry plays a role in failing to attract talent in Greece, Italy and The Netherlands. The poor reputation of organizations scores low on total level, but is an important 16 Randstad Randstad 17

10 The main reason that organizations fail to attract top talent is the strong competition for available talent. 6 Despite the economic downturn, more than half of the companies hired permanent staff in Figure 6.5 How would you categorize your success in recruiting from social networking sites? Figure 6.6 What are the sources primarly used when recruiting talent Recruitment companies 67% Employee referrals 56% Company website 50% Print advertising 45% Job boards 38% College recruiting 31% Executive search firms 30% Networking sites 28% Career fairs 17% Other 4% Figure 6.7 If you are using networksites for what positions do you find them most helpful? Management level 40% Staff level 37% 10% Very successful 34% Somewhat successful 17% Successful 5% Not successful 33% Don t use Don t use 37% 14% Executive level 14% Support level 13% factor in Belgium and Turkey. Respondents in Sweden point at ineffective recruitment strategies to explain why they do not manage to attract top talent. In fig. 6.5 we see that recruitment companies, employee referrals and company websites are the top used sources in recruiting talent. Print advertising, job boards, college recruiting and 9 out of 10 of those who use it (about 2 out of 3) claim that recruiting via social network is successful (fig. 6.6). The use of network sites is described to be useful when recruiting employees at staff or management level. 37% of the companies do not use these sites at all (fig. 6.7). Fig. 6.8 describes that job turnover is estimated to be after 5 years of employment and above in almost 38% of the cases. In China, most respondents estimate the job turnover after 4 to 5 years; in UK after 3 to 4 years. Figure 6.8 What is the estimated average job turnover within your organization? Figure 6.9 3% < 1 year 9% 1-2 years 18% 2-3 years 16% 3-4 years 17% 4-5 years 38% > 5 years yes no no answer Did you use interim staff in your department in 2011? 43% 45% 12% Did you hire permanent staff in your department in 2011? 56% 30% 15% Figure 6.10 Standard practices background checks in our hiring process Reference checks 85% Degree verifications 53% Criminal checks 32% Credit checks 15% Drug screening 6% Other 10% Figure 6.11 Benefits within your organization Bonuses 70% Career development 63% Medical insurance 60% Competitive salary 60% Education 56% Flexible working options 46% Life insurance 46% Pension plan 39% Flextime 31% Disability insurance 30% Wellness benefits 22% Stock options 17% Profit sharing 16% Day care 6% 56% hired permanent staff in 2011 and 43% of the companies used interim to fill up vacancies (fig. 6.9). Despite the economic downturn, more than half of the companies hired permanent staff in The highest percentage for hiring permanent staff is found in India, for interim staff in The Netherlands. Reference checks and degree verifications are the main standard background checks conducted in a hiring process (fig. 6.10). Credit checks are frequently conducted in Argentina and China, criminal checks in Australia, China and Turkey. When looking at fig we can see that bonuses and career development are the most common benefits, leading with 70% and 63% respectively. Medical insurance, competitive salary and education are also frequently mentioned. Few companies offer, profit sharing and day care as a benefit. In Australia, Belgium, Hungary and The Netherlands, flexible working options are frequently mentioned. Life insurances are most popular in China and Belgium as are pension plans. The latter benefit is also attractive in Sweden and UK. Only in Sweden wellness benefits are frequently offered. Other 9% 18 Randstad Randstad 19

11 employment trends 7 25% claim that shortage in skills it is not an issue within their industry. Figure 7.2 Hiring intentions Figure 7.4 Ability to attract top talent? Finance IT Engineering Sales & Marketing Sr. management 6% 7% 6% 9% Middle management 11% 10% 10% 14% Qualified professionals 17% 23% 21% 19% Administrative / clerical 11% 9% 5% 11% Skilled workers 6% 13% 17% 8% Graduates 10% 10% 11% 13% No hires 24% 25% 24% 19% No answer 39% 41% 41% 44% 28% 25% 47% Many respondents state they are already increasing headcount or plan to do so in the near future. In these paragraphs we will focus on possible trends regarding interim staff, recruiting and how organizations will handle shortages in skilled personnel in the coming year. Looking at fig. 7.1 we see that from the organizations interviewed, 46% are currently hiring new staff and 39% will hire in. Especially in India, Belgium and UK companies are already hiring employees. Companies are especially anticipating hiring qualified professionals. In engineering and IT departments, 22% intend to hire qualified professionals. About 1 out of 4 do not consider hiring staff in finance, IT and engineering (fig. 7.2). When asking the participants how they will address the shortages in skills, most answer, by education and training programs, as shown in fig Another way to address the problem is to increase use of externally hired contractors. 25% claim that shortage in skills it is not an issue within their industry. More than 1 out of 4 companies do not have an answer to this question. Figure 7.1 When will your company begin hiring (project) employees again? 46% Currently hiring 11% Early 12% Mid 4% Late 11% or later 15% Don't know Offering more flexible work options to employees is a possible solution referred to by respondents in Argentina and Hungary. In India, companies tend to hire talent from other countries, while companies in Sweden also point at hiring more part-time workers. Figure 7.3 What will you do to adress the shortages in skills in? Education and training programs 42% Increase use of extern. hired contractors 20% Offer more flex. work options to employees 17% Hire talent from other countries 16% Outsource business functions 12% Hire more part-time workers 7% Other 11% No answer 26% Figure 7.5 Department layoffs occurred in 2011 Operations 15% Accounting / Finance 11% Marketing / Com. 11% HR 9% Sales 9% IT 7% Facilities 6% Product management 4% Training/Development 4% R & D 4% Legal 2% Other 22% No answer 50% Only 28% are convinced their organization is able to attract top talent. 1 out of 4 claim the opposite (fig. 7.4). The largest amount of layoffs occurred within operations, marketing, accounting and finance (fig. 7.5). Product management, training/development, R&D and legal come out as departments with the lowest layoff rate. In The Netherlands and Sweden HR has been relatively more impacted; in Greece, Hungary and Italy the Sales department. In fig. 7.6 we see that 30% of the companies already had a shortage in skills in out of 4 companies claim that it is not an issue within their industry. 1 out of 5 respond they currently do not have this problem but it might be one in Especially respondents in Greece do not expect skill shortages. No less than 69% of the companies in UK answer they already had problems last year. Figure 7.6 Do you expect a shortage in skills? 30% 17% 19% 25% 10% No anwer Yes, already in 2011 Yes, we will emerge in Not in but maybe in 2013 Not an issue for our industry 20 Randstad Randstad 21

12 economic impact and outlook 8 Most companies believe they will recover from the current economic situation after. Figure 8.2 Has company loyalty been impacted by changes the organization implemented? Figure 8.4 When do you believe your country will recover from the economic downturn? 26% 16% 58% Yes No Don t know 18% Currently in recovery 2% Early 5% Mid 10% Late 49% After 17% No anwser Figure 8.5 Do you anticipate growth in? Figure 8.3 Has the economy impacted your companies involvement in CSR initiatives? 2% 11% 69% 19% Yes, all CSR initiatives have been put on hold Yes, some CSR initiatives have been put on hold No, the economy has not impacted CSR initiatives Don t know 53% Yes 18% No 21% Maybe 5% Don't know 3% No answer In this section, we will consider how the economy generally had an impact on the organizations in Total. How companies see their outlook for the future and forthcoming growth. What kind of actions did they have to conduct within their business to deal with the current economic situation? Further it also addresses if organizational changes have an impact on loyalty for instance. The impact the economic downturn has on the surveyed companies is shown in fig. 8.1 where 62% had to cut budgets. Further countermeasures that were implemented include the freezing of recruitment and consequently even layoffs. Compensation cut of freezing are frequently mentioned in Greece, Hungary and Spain; elimination of consultants / temporary employees in Belgium, Italy and The Netherlands. In general, the economic downturn did not affect employees loyalty. 58% claim that changes within the organization had no impact on the loyalty of their employees. 26% do not have an answer to this question. In Hungary and The Netherlands, Figure 8.1 How has your organization been impacted by the economic downturn? Budget cuts 62% Implemented hiring freezes 52% Employee layoffs 30% Cut or froze compensation (bonus, wages) 30% Elimination of consultants / temporary employees 27% Reduced benefits offered 12% Other 7% loyalty appears to be most affected, as illustrated in fig About 1 out of 5 of the participants interviewed say that the economic downturn had a huge impact on their workload. 30% claim it had an average impact and nearly half of the respondents experienced very little change in their job assignments. The highest impact on workload is found in Greece and Hungary. Fig. 8.3 illustrates that CSR initiatives have only been impacted due to the current economy with 12% of the organizations, mainly in Belgium, Greece and Hungary. Nearly half of the companies surveyed are largely optimistic and believe they will recover from the economic downturn after (fig. 8.4). Highest optimism is observed in Greece, Hungary, Spain and Italy. Fig. 8.5 illustrates that more than half of the respondents anticipate growth for their company in, especially China and Turkey. Italy and The Netherlands are far less optimistic. Most companies believe they will recover from the current economic situation after. A key factor in this anticipation might be that when asking companies about their revenue in sales volume, 55% increased and 8% remained stable in Another item that has been identified as positive due to the current Figure 8.6 How concerned are you about increased job turnover within your or organization as the economy picks up? 17% Very 26% Somewhat 19% Concerned 38% Not concerned economic situation is that 1 out of 3 companies negotiated better terms with their suppliers. More advantages identified are restructuring and encouraging the employees to think differently. In Belgium, Sweden, China and UK, targeting new customer segments and creating new partnerships also constitute a crisis related opportunity. Respondents from India see an improvement of products or services and an optimization of technology as a direct result of the economic crisis. 38% have no concern regarding job turnover within their organization when the economy picks up again. Companies in Spain, UK and Italy are least concerned (fig. 8.6). 22 Randstad Randstad 23