Work security has top priority - survey

AFTER A decade of striving for increased remuneration and career advancement, the majority of Irish private sector workers now value workplace security and stability as their main priority, according to a new global survey on employee attitudes and workplace trends.

In a sign that employees are returning to more traditional workplace priorities as a result of the recession, three out of four workers in Ireland and Europe rank “a secure and stable position” as their top employment priority, the latest Global Workforce Study by Towers Watson shows.

The survey found employees are more likely to stay in their current jobs, despite a growing level of disenchantment with employers. About 50 per cent of Irish workers said they would prefer to work for one company during their career, while the remainder want to work for a maximum of three companies. This is despite the fact that only 40 per cent feel their current employer offers opportunities to develop their skills, and only 45 per cent perceive their leaders to be trustworthy.

Towers Watson’s Lorna Byrne said the recession has given rise to a change in work patterns and priorities, in particular the end of the “free agent” approach to careers that characterised work patterns over the last decade.

“Employees have become surprisingly traditional in the ‘deal’ that they want from their employer, with an emphasis placed on security and a desire for a stable career with a small number of organisations,” she said. The recession may have bred a new era of “company” men and women, who intend to stay with companies for years, or decades, she added.

Some 20,000 private sector employees from 22 countries including Ireland were surveyed for the study between November 2009 and January 2010.

The number of professional job vacancies rose by 34 per cent in February compared to the same month a year earlier, according to a new report. The Premier Group Irish Employment monitor shows the number of vacancies increased from 4,201 to 5,633.

This marks the fourth consecutive month in which there has been a rise in the number of new jobs available.

On a month-by-month basis, the number of new jobs for professionals in Ireland rose by 7 per cent, from 5,282 in January to 5,633 in February.

Overall, there were 58 per cent more professionals entering the jobs market last month, as against February 2009.

Vacancies were collated from sectors such as banking and financial, legal, commerce and industry finance, insurance, HR and IT.