Panamanians, without loyalty to their jobs

Loyalty has lost its luster, which means that long-term work culture in the same company becomes an outdated concept. This reality emerges from the Talent Trends 2023 study developed by PageGroup, a unique global survey that reveals how workers really feel.

In the local case, the study shows that 100% of Panamanians are open to new employment opportunities, implying that companies cannot count on any of their current employees staying with the company this year.

In this sense, 87% of Panamanians are more inclined looking for a job when the economy is down. The sector in which employees are more willing to look for new opportunities when there are economic problems is marketing with 86%, while the one that shows the least mobility is technology with 69%.

The study highlights that globally 98% of employees are open to new job offers. Of that number, 70% are active job seekers who are currently looking for work or plan to do so in the next 6 months.

While another 28% are in doubt, but are open to looking for new jobs. Therefore, inter-company talent mobility was 30% in 2022 and continues to grow, according to Talent Trends 2023. By 2019, before the pandemic, inter-company mobility was 9%.

Juliana Otalvarosenior executive director of PageGroup Panama and Central America, does not rule out that these numbers are increasing.

“With 70% of the workforce being active job seekers, with the global economy increasing in volatility, we predict this number will continue to increase throughout 2023,” Otálvaro said.

The executive emphasized that people are increasingly open to exploring new jobs and changing jobs more frequently, which has become the norm. This means that companies they face great difficulty in retaining their most valuable talent.

The study shows that 9 out of 10 people who started a new job in the last year are open to new opportunities, 6 out of 10 people have changed roles since the start of the pandemic and 1 out of 2 people are looking for a new job. The moment.

Talent Trends 2023 shows that of the 98% of people who are open to new opportunities, 98% are men and 97% are women. 99% are in their 50s, which is at the top for age, while people in their 20s have the lowest percentage at 95%.

Regarding the level of responsibility, the highest percentage is held by lower and middle managers with 98%, while the lower percentage is held by those who do not have managerial responsibility or management at a high level with 97%.

The economic sectors with the highest mobility are engineering and manufacturing, supply chain and logistics, financial services, legal services, real estate and construction, all at 99%. The one reporting the lowest mobility is technology with 94%.

“In fact, there is a direct correlation between a worsening economic scenario and an increase in the desire to look for a new job. This means that instead of paralyzing talent or generating a conservative response, people are more willing to look for a new job when the economic environment worsens,” he said.

The study indicates that “the invisible revolution” has started and the high turnover of jobs will be a constant threat. However, this change cannot be attributed to the pandemic, but to a broader evolution of talent expectations.

So how can companies retain their talent? There are several factors that motivate talent towards a particular organization. The top three are salary/salary 28%, career advancement 17% and flexibility 13%.