After the success of the 2009 survey, Coracle Online and Halcyon Recruitment have held another Maritime Employee Survey, with a very different outcome due to the worldwide crisis.
Results show employees had to adapt quickly to an employer driven recruitment market (with a focus on restructuring and reorganization and intense pressure on bottom line results), where before there was an employee driven industry (where salary increases were at record levels).
Shift to Promotion and Training
As a result, salary and benefits featured heavily in the 2009 survey as areas where respondents were looking for improvements. This year, there was a dramatic shift towards promotion and training.
Job Security
Job security remains a concern, although confidence has grown since last year, with 54% of our respondents expressing concern over their current position compared to 61% last year. Respondents working in the liner sector were the most concerned (67%) with the legal/P&I/insurance sector expressing the least concern (38%).
Top Three Most Dissatisfactory
Promotion prospects (or the lack thereof) featured as providing the most dissatisfaction (42% ranked this highest), followed by benefits and training (both 37%). With respect to training, 51% indicated they do not receive any training as part of their job. When considering a career move, 63% indicated that promotion prospects were their most important consideration, followed by an employer’s reputation, and then the relationship they perceived they would have with their new line manager, with work life balance very close behind.
Inflated Salary Increases at an End
In the 2009 survey, salary and benefits were clear leaders as the key motivators when considering a career move, yet this year benefits did not appear once as a major motivating factor, but did feature as being a source of great dissatisfaction. It was to be anticipated that employees would, at some point, have to accept that the time of inflated salary increases and large bonuses are behind us: it seems that time has come for most people.
To support these trends it is interesting to note that 51% of respondents have not had a pay rise in the last 12 months and 12% of respondents have seen a decrease in their annual salary. 52% of participants did not receive any bonus within the last year and, of those that did the majority (40%) stated that it was worth between 1 and 10% of their annual salary. 91% of bonuses were paid in cash.
Nearly Half Experienced Redundancies
48% of respondents indicated that redundancies have been made within their organisation over the last 12 months, although some (9%) were unsure of the actual numbers involved. 4% of respondents worked for companies where over 50 jobs had been cut.
Breakdown in Communication
In the 2009 survey ‘communication from employers’ featured in the top three ‘most happy’ category for the majority of sectors, but this year this started to appear as an area of dissatisfaction. Strong communication is essential in maintaining a cohesive approach to the business. If employees are left uncertain of their company’s future, or their own, this can quickly lead to low morale and people looking for new jobs.
Benefits Hold Considerable Weight
Benefits have again featured heavily this year, so we asked respondents to rate potential benefits in terms of importance. Pension featured as the most important although private healthcare came in a very close second. While benefits may not be top of the list in reasons to consider a new job this year, it is clearly an area that holds considerable weight.
Read the full survey on https://www.coracleonline.com/content/survey2010.pdf[Coracle Online]
