The world’s workers are now more concerned with better pay than flexible working arrangements, according to the EY 2022 Work Reimagined Survey.

EY surveyed 1,500 business leaders and more than 17,000 employees across 22 countries and 26 industry sectors. The resulting report found that employees have gained significant influence over their employers and that their “wish list” from potential employers is changing.

As employers have granted flexible working policies in most cases to accede to workers’ demands, they are now faced with a new challenge. Employees want more pay. Nearly half (43pc) of global respondents said they were likely to quit in the next 12 months. Desire for higher total pay, better career opportunities amid rising inflation, a shrinking labour market and an increase in jobs offering flexible working were the main factors.

A recent report from IrishJobs.ie also cited inflation as a major concern for Irish workers making decisions about their careers.

“This latest survey shows that employees around the world are feeling empowered to leave jobs if their expectations are not met.  As employers have increasingly provided flexible work approaches, higher pay is now the biggest motivation for changing jobs, particularly given rising inflation and available unfilled roles. This is a trend we are certainly starting to see here in Ireland also,” said Laura Flynn, head of people consulting at EY Ireland.

More than a third of those searching for new roles (35pc) said that a salary increase was their main reason for deciding to leave. One quarter said they were leaving to look for career growth. People in the technology and hardware sectors were most eager to leave, with 60pc saying they would.

The survey revealed that 42pc of workers said that pay increases would be the key to addressing staff turnover – but only 18pc of employers agreed with this.

Flexible working arrangements were less of a priority for those considering leaving their jobs. Only 19pc said they were seeking remote-work flexibility from a new job. By contrast, last year’s survey found that flexibility was the biggest factor in people leaving their jobs.

That is not to say that workers do not still want flexible working practices. 80pc of employees want to work remotely at least two days a week. It seems employers have adjusted to this as only a minority (22pc) said they wanted workers back in the office five days a week.

Employees do seem to be happier with their workplaces’ corporate cultures, with 61pc saying they had seen improvements since the start of the pandemic.

However, it may not be the case for all employees. Deloitte’s recent Women @ Work survey found that almost 40pc of women are looking for a new employer, citing burnout as the main reason for leaving. Of late, there has been mixed views on the subject of remote working for women, with some women saying it is beneficial and others saying it causes proximity bias and an ‘old boys club’ mentality.

Deloitte questioned almost 5,000 working women across 10 countries. It found that mental wellbeing and a healthy work-life balance remained elusive for most women. Harassment and microaggressions are also on the rise. Hybrid work is a factor in the exclusion many women experienced at work, with nearly 60pc saying they had been kept from meetings, decisions, or informal interactions.

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