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Employee Job Confidence: Is the Grass Greener?

Posted on July 2021

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As we look ahead to global recovery and relaunch, the world health crisis continues to cast a shadow on many countries and plague economic activity. The Supply Chain sector is a crucial pillar, propagating a wave of economic growth and interconnecting systematic cross-border ecosystems. To continue innovating and fuelling economic activity post-pandemic, encouraging trade, and stimulating consumer spending, the sector requires a strong pipeline of industry-leading visionaries. Hence, having unique access to sentiments in the Supply Chain and Procurement workplace may be the best strategic advantage to cultivate a talent management typology in competitive markets.

In 2020, we launched the inaugural DSJ Global Job Confidence Index Report. It gathered critical views and data on Procurement and Supply Chain professionals across the globe, with a comprehensive analysis on their confidence in the labor market. Last yearโ€™s report surveyed over 650 specialist sector professionals within End-to-End Supply Chains from Europe, Asia Pacific, to the United States.

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Is Candidate Sentiment Negotiated by Uncertainty?

Last year, regional comparisons highlighted a largely negative economic outlook within the talent community. A little over half, โ€œ51% of U.S. Supply Chain professionals predicted a worsening economy over the next twelve monthsโ€, a pessimistic caliber that was also replicated, โ€œacross Europe (46%) and APAC (31%).โ€ From a global standpoint, widespread negativity was unfortunately canvassed; key findings indicated that 2 in 5, โ€œ43% of respondents felt gloomy about the current job market.โ€

In job markets all over the world, last year witnessed unavoidable declines in trade and output. The International Monetary Fund forecasted a 3% contraction of the global economy, while the World Trade Organization predicted trade to markedly plummet by 13% to 32% in 2020. In addition, trade tensions and geo-economic disruptions also exposed the vulnerabilities of Supply Chains, spilling over into a shrill deterioration in business and consumer confidence. For Supply Chain employees then, itโ€™s no surprise that perceptions of the economy were a cloud of negativity.

Despite the unwavering uncertainty in the talent network, coupled with the economic consequences compounded by the Covid-19 crisis, some economies are bouncing back. The latest estimates from the World Trade Organization predict world trade to incrementally climb to 8.0% this year after having fallen by 5.3% in 2020 and whatโ€™s more, global manufacturing value-added output is expected to rebound by 6% in 2021.

Perhaps organizations have weathered the worst of a difficult year and post-pandemic, optimism towards business activity, recovery, and employability has undoubtedly strengthened on the back of global economic growth; aided by vaccine rollouts and a predominant bounce back in world trade.

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Has Confidence in the Talent Market Changed?

Procurement and Supply Chain players now, in many ways, may be noticeably more optimistic toward job creation and hiring. But, if the findings from last year have taught us anything, itโ€™s that Supply Chain organizations might look for ways to get ahead of the curve. In other words, prioritize business-critical roles, understand employee motivations, work hard at employee retention, and map out the market to engage with business-critical talent before competition inevitably does.

Whatโ€™s to be said for 2021; has confidence been tantalizingly rattled in an uncertain world? A year on, the survey results from over 1,000 Supply Chain professionals are in, yielding some interesting insights. What remains a universal imperative last year, may not set the cornerstone of tomorrow.

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Pre-register here for first-access to the Job Confidence Index 2021 results: