What really matters to workers in Asia, especially in a slowing economy
Andrew Chung says perks and flexibility are important to employees in today’s modern business environment, especially amid pessimism about the global economy
Asia accounts for about 40 per cent of the world’s output. But with the global economic slowdown, the region is facing fresh – and difficult – challenges.
So how can companies in the region thrive, despite the difficult market conditions? One way is to break the mould.
The global economy poses a great challenge to companies and their employees. People are scared that, even though Asia is thriving, the global slowdown will hit the region. According to a recent Asia-wide survey we conducted in August, employees of nearly every economy surveyed cited the global economic slowdown as their biggest challenge.
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The slowdown threat is real. In fact, a new PwC survey found that only 73 per cent of Chinese family businesses recorded sales growth in 2016.
There’s only more uncertainty ahead. With the election of Donald Trump as US president, the Asian markets plummeted. China’s economy is cooling, and showing little signs of revving up again.
And, of course, Brexit put the nail on the coffin for European markets.
Business will be more and more cautious with their investments as conditions get tougher. And one thing they’ll need to work on is rallying employee optimism. Our survey of 1,200 workers across the Asia-Pacific, Compass Index, found a minority of employees were actually optimistic about their futures in their companies.