Barely one in three people in Belgium look forward to enjoying still doing the same job in five years from now, according to a survey by business consultants RH Acerta.
The survey found that 37% of the 2,000 people polled thought they would still fit in with their work surroundings in five years, with 36% expecting to be with the same employer. But the number who thought they would be happy doing so was lower still.
In recent years, the idea of a job for life has virtually died out, especially among employees under the age of 35. Only 37% said they would still fit in at work within three to five years.
Just two years ago, that percentage was 58%.
And a similar low figure – barely three in ten – think they will still be good at their job in five years. That is half as many as in 2018.
“The realisation has grown that a career is not automatically infinite and one-dimensional,” said Tom Vlieghe, director of Acerta Consult.
“Employees realize that something will have to be done to find the same satisfaction in cooperation with the employer in three to five years. The coronavirus has accelerated that trend.”
One in five employees considered that their abilities were not appreciated by their employer, a figure Vlieghe said was “worth thinking about.”
“The positive side of that is that for employers there may still be 18% potential still waiting to be discovered among their own people,” he said.
One possible solution to employee discontent, Acerta suggests, might be job rotation, where colleagues switch over and do each other’s job, even if only temporarily.
“And internal advancement is also still too often viewed in the short term. However, continuing to challenge and develop their own employees will be very important for many companies to maintain their best profiles in the tight labour market.”
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
