Over 90% business leaders say flexible working under threat due to economic uncertainty: LinkedIn

• Around 91% of the business leaders in India say that the ongoing economic climate could threaten flexible working, according to a new LinkedIn report.
  
• Besides good compensation and salary, career advancement, upskilling and work-life balance are the top priorities of employees while looking for a job.
  
• This analysis has come into focus when job postings for remote roles have declined but the applications to those roles increased by 2x in the country.

Many employees, all over the country, enjoyed flexible remote working and benefits during the Covid-19 pandemic but not anymore. Around 91% of the business leaders in India say that the ongoing economic climate could threaten flexible working, according to a new LinkedIn research report.

In fact, 43% of them are looking to reduce employer learning and development budgets and opportunities, while half of the business leaders are looking to reduce flexible and hybrid working roles.

Besides good compensation and salary, career advancement, upskilling and work-life balance are the top priorities of employees when looking for a job. While financial health and employee retention are the top two business priorities for leaders over the next 6 months, according to the report.

“The sheer scale of the ongoing uncertainty is forcing many leaders to rethink what — and how much — they can offer to their employees today. While flexibility and learning are usually the first to go when times are tough, pulling back on these in the present situation could demotivate employees, widen the skills gap, and inflate retention rates,” said Ashutosh Gupta, India country manager, LinkedIn.

This analysis has come into focus when job postings for remote roles have declined but the applications to those roles increased by 2x in the country. According to the LinkedIn data, around 11.3% of paid job postings in India offered a remote working option in September 2022. However, those remote working roles received 20.3% of all job applications.
Growing disconnect between employees and employers
The report further shows that there is a disconnection between what employees want and what employers are offering.

Around 86% of the business leaders believe that these cost cutting measures like flexible working and growth opportunities will have a negative impact on employee motivation levels.

And this can be one of the reasons why 84% of them are currently not able to find the right talent, the report said.

“At a time when professionals are just as threatened by the age of uncertainty as businesses are, leaders must adopt a forward-thinking approach and continue to invest in their people. Empowering employees to upgrade their skills and allowing them to choose how they want to work can drive greater levels of employee satisfaction in these testing times. Ultimately, having a workforce that feels supported and fulfilled will be key to building resilient businesses that drive growth and outperform competitors despite macroeconomic challenges,” Gupta added.

Amid this uncertainty, creative thinking and problem solving are the two skills that employers will still look out for in employees. Other than these, communication, adaptability, and transparency are some of the other soft-skills that are necessary for employers.

In terms of career advancement, the report finds that employees want growth and transformation. In India, an employee who has made an internal move is about 10% more likely to stay at their company when compared to those who stay in the same role for two or three years, another Linkedin report named ‘Global Talent Trends’ said.

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