Staff turnover rising – why they walk and what they want

Staff turnover rising – why they walk and what they want

Voluntary staff turnover has risen in 28% of organisations in New Zealand over the past year, according to recruiting experts Hays.

Based on findings in the 2017 Hays Salary Guide, just 13% of more than 500 organisations in New Zealand, representing almost 187,000 employees, reported decreased staff turnover during the past 12 months. The remaining 59% said turnover had stayed the same.

“The number of people willing to resign in favour of another role elsewhere certainly shows that New Zealand’s job market is delivering the opportunities its workforce seeks,” says Jason Walker, Managing Director of Hays in New Zealand. “People can see the positivity around them and know that demand is increasing for highly skilled professionals.”

Findings from the Hays Salary Guide show that 75% of employers experienced increased business activity over the past 12 months, with 81% expecting further increased activity in the year ahead. Staff levels are set to rise too, with 48% expecting to increase permanent staff levels, far exceeding the 9% who say they’ll decrease.

Despite this, 66% of employers will give their staff a sub-three per cent pay rise in their next review, while 5% will not increase salaries at all.
“Salaries are doing little to motivate people to stay, with sedate increases on offer for many people this year,” says Jason. “This is testing loyalty and, after several years of small salary increases, is contributing to people seeking a better offer, career progression or improved benefits elsewhere.”

What do people want in the year ahead?

When thinking about their career in the year ahead, 67% said being able to work flexibly is important, 62% said a pay rise is important and 58% want more challenging or exciting work.

“Clearly flexibility is an important part of any successful retention program,” says Jason. “While not all workplaces or roles can adopt flexible working options, those that can have a retention advantage. If an organisation can also involve staff in relevant projects and provide on-the-job opportunities to develop digital skills or work on new challenging tasks, they further their chances of retaining people,” he said.

Get your copy of the 2017 Hays Salary Guide by visiting www.hays.net.nz/salary, contacting your local Hays office or downloading The Hays Salary Guide 2017 iPhone app from iTunes.
Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.
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About Hays
Hays is the leading global specialist recruiting group. We are the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in Asia Pacific and the UK and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. We operate across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments.
As at 31 December 2016 the Group employed 9,600 staff operating from 251 offices in 33 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2016 Hays reported net fees of £810.3 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £181 million. Hays placed around 67,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 220,000 people into temporary assignments. 22% of Group net fees were generated in Asia Pacific.
For the 2015-16 financial year Hays in Australia & New Zealand placed 12,200 people into permanent jobs, or 47 per day. We also filled nearly 62,000 temporary jobs, or 240 per day.
Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA.

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