40 per cent would forego part of salary to secure job: Survey
While most Canadians work to live, many are prepared to sacrifice money for job security and the ability to enjoy what they do for a living, according to Randstad's latest Global Workmonitor survey of employees in 32 countries, with at least 400 surveyed in each country.
Most Canadians (82 per cent) work to live, rather than live to work, on par with the global average. The greatest exception worldwide is Luxembourg, where only 23 per cent of respondents agreed with this statement. As well, three out of 10 Canadian employees indicated they would quit their job if there was no further scope for personal development.
Two-thirds of Canadians do not consider a good salary to be more important than enjoying their work. Globally, more than one-half of respondents (58 per cent) also said they consider enjoyable work to be more important than a good salary, especially in Norway (80 per cent). However, salary is a much stronger driver in Hong Kong, Malaysia and India, where only one-third of respondents agreed with this statement.
"Canada's workforce is motivated by a number of factors — for some people, it is being able to earn a wage that keeps them going to work every day, while others take into consideration factors such as a good working environment, perks, flexible working hours, co-operative colleagues and job satisfaction,” said Stacy Parker, executive vice-president of marketing at Randstad Canada.
"Undoubtedly, a high salary results in a better standard of living but, considering that workers spend most of their hours at work, often this is not enough to keep them happy.”
Forty per cent of Canadian employees are prepared to forego part of their salary to secure their job. Overall, 43 per cent of global respondents agreed. The most committed employees can be found in India, where 76 per cent said they are willing to forego part of their salary if this would help save their jobs.
The extent to which employees are willing to compromise correlates with the financial performance of their employer, said Randstad. Overall, 42 per cent of all respondents indicated the financial performance of their employer is under pressure. Countries above average include Hungary, Greece, Czech Republic and Spain (61 per cent to 67 per cent).
Canada sits on the lower end of the spectrum, as only 36 per cent of employees believe the financial performance of their employer is currently under pressure.
