75% of global workers feel employers are looking after their well-being during coronavirus
Three-quarters (75 per cent) of global employees said they feel their employers have been taking care of their well-being during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey by human resources organization Randstad.
Among Canadian survey respondents, this figure increased to 77 per cent. Around the same percentage (76 per cent) of global workers said their employers have been accommodating around shifting work hours to balance work and family responsibilities.
The majority (90 per cent) of Canadians said they’ve adapted to their new working situation. Indeed, the global average was relatively high, at 83 per cent, with Japan the lowest at just 65 per cent.
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However, the survey also found 64 per cent of global employees said they believe the coronavirus has negatively impacted their job security. In Canada, the news is slightly better, with only 55 per cent of workers sharing this fear.
Slightly more than half (52 per cent) of all respondents said they believe their employer would help them find a new job if they were furloughed, while only 67 per cent said they expect they could rely on government support if they became unemployed. Significantly, 86 per cent of Canadian workers indicated they expect the government would help them if they lose their job due to the crisis.
“Government schemes in many countries, including Canada, have temporarily protected a large number of jobs, which may account for Canadian workers feeling slightly more positive than their global counterparts,” said Carolyn Levy, president of Randstad Technologies, in a press release. “However, this is not sustainable in the long term. We know it may take years to see employment return to pre-pandemic levels in Canada.
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“While the Canadian government has responded with measures such as the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit, Canadian workers will need to learn new skills to fit into evolving businesses. In Canada, and around the world, to reduce mass global unemployment, private and public sectors will need to work together. For Canadian workers, re-skilling is no longer a tool for career advancement but a tool for career survival.”
The survey also found 61 per cent of global employers said they expect workers to be available outside of normal work hours, this is true of 55 per cent of Canadian employers — on par with Japan and the United States — but far less than China, at 89 per cent.
The shift to remote work has also placed increased technological demands on both employers and workers. Two-thirds of Canadian employees reported their employers have invested in technology to help them adapt. This is well ahead of Portugal (56 per cent) and Japan (39 per cent).
Moreover, 70 per cent of Canadian employers said they’ve provided technological equipment to their employees to ensure they can perform their jobs remotely, more than the global average (64 per cent).
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