74 percent of Gen-X employees are willing to spend their own money on upgrading their skills, instead of waiting for employers to provide training, compared to 72 percent of Gen-Y employees and 68 percent of Baby Boomers.
The findings are part of the Kelly Global Workforce Index, which obtained the views of approximately 134,000 people in 29 countries, including more than 20,000 in Australia.
Karen Colfer, Managing Director, Kelly Services Australia, said employees are taking greater control of their destiny in the post GFC world.
“People are now more conscious of staying ahead of the game in both the workplace and the employment market and they realise training plays a vital role in that.
“The survey results reflect a significant shift in the post GFC market. The GFC killed the ideal of loyalty in the employee/employer relationship and today employees are reluctant to place any trust or faith with their employer. Employees are taking greater personal responsibility for managing their careers and developing new skills.”
As part of this shift towards employees taking greater control over their careers, the survey found a growing number of Australians are developing their own personal ’employee brands’, taking steps to differentiate themselves in a fast-changing workplace.
Personal marketing, or branding, has become a feature of the modern workplace, with respondents identifying the elements they regard as most important in building their identities – verbal communication skills (70 percent), technical knowledge (62 percent), résumés (61 percent), written communications (59 percent), personal attire (56 percent) and use of social media (35 per cent).
Colfer said, “We are seeing many individuals moving out of the traditional or typical employment relationship. We are seeing an increase in the amount of people actively thinking about how to promote themselves in order to make their next step happen rather than waiting for the right role to fall in their lap.
“There is a high degree of awareness about the pace of change in the workplace. Today’s typical employee believes they have the ability to manage how this change affects them and their career.”
