Financial concerns are affecting over 70% of businesses globally with almost a third of businesses just hoping to survive the year, revealed a new survey.
In fact, 72.3% of bosses listed rising costs as their top business concern, noted new research carried out by Peninsula Group. Nevertheless, 66% of employers are offering financial remuneration to help retention and overcome skills shortages.
The survey of 79,000 businesses across four countries – Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the UK – to see what the top priorities and concerns were for employers in 2023, revealed that growth is the main business goal for 58.6% of employers. But given the impact that the recession is having in the UK and Ireland, 38.4% and 34.7% bosses respectively listed survival as their main goal for the year.
TOP EMPLOYER CONCERNS
Rising costs are the top concern for businesses in Canada (73%), Ireland (87.8%) and the UK (79.9%), whereas in Australia, it ranks third. Labour shortages are the top concern for 66.2% of Australian businesses, with employee retention the second highest concern.
The cost-of-living crisis and staffing shortages are having a significant impact across all four countries; with 66% of employers offering financial remuneration to help retention. Those who are unable to offer financial incentives are offering flexible working hours (50.9%) and mental health support (30.7%) to help prevent employees from leaving.
Over half (54.6%) of employers have given employees a pay rise to offset the ongoing skills shortage. In fact, 49% of employers list recruitment as their biggest challenge staffing wise, with pay increase requests coming in second at 39.1%.
FLEXIBLE WORKING
Employers are also seeing a trend coming out of the global pandemic, with 37% having fully reinstated all pre-pandemic working models, noted the study. However, the temporary measures that were brought in during the pandemic have changed the shape of work for many. Approximately 29% of employers are prioritising health and wellbeing, and 27.7% making some form of flexible working a permanent feature.
“It’s truly staggering that we’re going into 2023 with a third of businesses saying their main goal is just to survive the year,” remarked Alan Price, Group Chief Operations Officer at Peninsula. “This statistic clearly demonstrates the drastic impact that recent world events have had. A global pandemic, political turmoil, war in Ukraine and now recession coming in such quick succession has devastated many businesses, especially SME’s, with business owners now under pressure like never before.”
COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS
“Here in the UK, we can see the impact that the cost-of-living crisis and rising energy costs are having on businesses,” Price added. “We’re seeing ongoing strike action over pay across many sectors, and this is having a knock-on effect for all businesses. Labour costs are rising to meet the increased cost of living, and the increased cost of doing business is clearly a concern.”
It’s clear that this will be a tough year for many businesses, but there is also a mood of opportunity. “Employers are seeing the value in retaining employees and, in turn, employees are reaping the benefits. More than half were given a pay raise and employers are looking at creative ways to retain employees, such as enhanced benefits packages or flexible working where a pay raise is not possible,” concluded Price. “For months, we’ve heard how difficult the job market is and, with skills shortages affecting many sectors as well as the cost and time involved in recruiting. It’s not really a surprise that so many businesses are concerned about the impact this will have on their business.”
Check out the full results here.
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