The career ladder: Show me the money

Are you making enough money? Are you in the highest-paid industry? Do you think you are keeping pace with your peers? Do you think you should move to a different field? If you ask yourself these questions then chances are you are probably not very happy in your current job. But what should you do to change this? That depends a lot on the answers to these and many other such questions you might be asking. It is answers to these questions that will help you come to an educated decision about your future and what direction you need to go in.

Salaries fail to keep up with inflation

A lot of questions have been answered by this survey. This survey might also convince you that you are actually much better off then you thought.

But it has also raised a lot of questions? For example, why are women paid less than men? Are economic conditions really as bad as many employers make out to be? Is the job market going to get better? Will there be more economic layoffs in the months or years to come?

There are many ways of gauging the economic strength or weakness of a country. Housing starts, exports, GDP, inflation and many more. One indicator is salaries and how they have kept pace with inflation. None of these indicators can produce a complete view of the economy if viewed individually, but combine them together and you can pretty much guess whether the economy is booming, or ailing.

The general perception that one gets from this survey is that the situation is not all that bad, that people do end up making a lot more money if they have a lot of experience, have a good degree and if they have developed a long term relationship with their employer.

It also shows that the biggest factor that still comes into play in employee loyalty is money. Most employees will simply go where the money is. This certainly leads one to conclude that while job satisfaction, work environment and future growth opportunities are important to most employees, the primary factor is the amount of money they make, and the resultant quality of life outside the work environment.

The results of the survey also show that unlike many developed countries, Pakistan need not worry about an ageing workforce since more than two thirds of the respondents were under the age of 30. This however does indicate that we still have a very high birth rate which leads to a host of other problems.

Now, even though the workforce is young, the spirit of entrepreneurship is very low. Most people are inclined to stay within their industry or move to a higher paying industry to try and improve their quality of life. The concept of young people going into business for themselves is low, perhaps a key indicator of the fact that the economic environment is not very attractive for start-ups. This is a worrying factor.

Another factor that is of concern is savings. The survey also reveals almost half of those polled (41%) do not save anything from their household income, and 34% of respondents claim they only save 10% or less. While older respondents (aged 40 years or older) are more likely to save than other ages, the survey reveals they are saving a lower proportion of their total salary than other savers.

Long-term economic growth requires capital investment and frequently the main source of funds for capital investment are household savings. In addition, higher rates of household savings allow a larger portion of a country’s overall debt to be financed internally. Consequently, the low rate of household savings revealed by the survey reflects a troubling trend in a key economic indicator.

Overall, the survey indicates that the majority of the workforce is still optimistic that the situation will get better in the medium to long term. There is also the indication that the workforce is keen on performance-based incentives which means they still retain the spirit of moving on and progressing – as opposed to being stuck in a rut.

About this survey, Rozee.pk and YouGov

The survey was conducted by YouGov and Rozee.pk. It was conducted online from April 25 to May 5, 2011. The total sample size was 6,431 working respondents from across Pakistan. These were drawn from Rozee.pk’s online database as well as visitors to their website.

The survey is likely to be of help to organisations, giving them an insight into current trends and feelings about the market and can help them in figuring out what they can probably do to improve employee satisfaction.

It is also likely to be of interest to the workforce, simply to assess where one is on the success-ladder, especially with regards to the amount of money one is making.

About Rozee.pk:

Rozee.pk is a division of Naseeb Online Services (Pvt) Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Naseeb Networks, Inc. USA. Most critics will probably agree that Rozee.pk has cemented its position as Pakistan’s leading job portal. This competitor and is a pioneering effort. According to Rozee.pk, it is visited by over five million professionals annually; 40,000 employers hire through the portal with over 100 new job postings on the site each day and 10 million job applications processed to date.

Having already said that it is a pioneer in the field of online job portals in Pakistan, Rozee.pk has taken the initiative in doing what it can to not only bring employers and employees closer together, but to also bring to light what the online world has to offer the country in terms of both development and revenue generation.

Rozee.pk was included in the Harvard University-affiliated All World Pakistan Fast Growth 25, a ranking of the 25 fastest growing private companies in Pakistan.

http://www.rozee.pk

About YouGov:

YouGov plc is a professional research and consulting organisation, pioneering the use of the internet and information technology to collect in-depth data for market research, organisational research and stakeholder consultation; providing companies with a rounded view of their staff, customers, brands and investors as well as assessing opinion amongst the general public and the media.

Through panel management expertise, flexibility and an innovative approach to recruitment, YouGov operates worldwide panels representing all ages, socio-economic groups and other demographic types.

YouGov has been acclaimed as the UK’s most accurate opinion pollster and is the most quoted research company in the UK and the Middle East. YouGov has operations in the US, Europe and the Middle East.

http://www.yougov.com

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2011.