OPENNESS TO CHANGE AND DIGITALISATION OF PROCESSES WILL DEFINE MAINLAND CHINA’S WORKPLACE OF THE FUTURE SAYS NEW REPORT BY HAYS

A world leader in technology and innovation, Mainland China’s high levels of digital adoption and integration helped the country’s workplaces overcome the worst of COVID-19’s challenges and return to work in record time. But this feat is not necessarily telling of the future, according to the new Uncovering the DNA of the Future Workplace report by recruiting experts Hays.  

 

 

The report, that surveyed over 9,000 working professionals across Asia in February this year and again in September this year, revealed that only 39 per cent of respondents in Mainland China could confidently describe their organisation as future-ready, with a further 45 per cent being ‘unsure’. When asked what could help increase the future-readiness of their organisation, the majority of respondents in Mainland China said, ‘openness to change’ (76 per cent), followed by ‘digitalisation of processes’ (70 per cent) and ‘increased learning and development opportunities’ (68 per cent). 

 

These findings are in line with the regional average, with less than half of total respondents across Asia (37 per cent) being confident that their organisation is future ready, and the majority saying that openness to change (71 per cent) and digitalisation of processes (71 per cent) is what will help their organisation get there. 

 

 

When it comes to digitalisation of processes, the report found that the digital-forward nature of Mainland China’s workplaces became apparent when respondents were asked if their organisation provided sufficient technology and tools to help realise current individual and organisational goals. 55 per cent agreed/strongly agreed, the highest percentage to do so in Asia. Mainland China also already had the highest adoption of conference call, video call or online meeting software in Asia pre-covid (75 per cent), a technology that respondents across Asia (80 per cent) said would be most important when considering joining a new workplace following the pandemic outbreak. Across Asia, respondents in Mainland China were tied with Hong Kong SAR in being the most confident that their organisation’s digitalisation journey would maintain relevancy in the next 3-5 years (58 per cent).

 

 

However, while more than half of respondents (53 per cent) said they were very aware/aware of their organisation’s digitalisation journey, this number is lower than almost 59 per cent who said so earlier this year. Mainland China also had the largest number of respondents who said they were moderately aware (32 per cent) as compared to the rest of Asia, which could be indicative of the rapid pace of technological change that could be leaving employees behind. It becomes doubly concerning when considering 85 per cent of respondents said their organisation’s technology/digitalisation journey was very important/important to them, regardless of their role.

 

Jessica Wang, Regional Director of Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen at Hays commented, “The majority of respondents in Mainland China believe that digitalisation of processes will help their organisation be more future-ready and have shown growing confidence in how relevant an organisation will be in the future as its digitalisation journey progresses. A workplace of the future in Mainland China is then one that will inspire confidence by not only being more digitalised, but integrating its digitalisation journey as an essential element of progress for the long-term, rather than a short-term fix to a circumstantial problem.”

 

The DNA of the Future Workplace report is based on findings from two surveys conducted on more than 9,000 respondents respectively across the five Hays operating markets in Asia: Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore; to measure sentiments on the four core elements we believe will shape workplaces of the future: flexibility, technology, upskilling and purpose. The first survey was concluded in February 2020 at the cusp of the pandemic, with the second having concluded this September. By comparing the two surveys, our findings aim to form a definitive understanding of how the pandemic has altered working sentiments, as well as a barometer for organisations as they seek to understand, attract and retain top talent amidst current challenges and those to come. 

 

Download your copy of the full report here.  

 

 

 

Hays Specialist Recruitment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. is one of China's leading recruitment companies in recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people across a wide range of industries and professions. 

 

Hays has been in China for over a decade with operational offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. We boast a track record of success and growth, dealing in permanent positions across 14 different specialisms, including Accountancy & Finance, Banking & Financial Services, Digital Technology, Engineering, Finance Technology, Human Resources, Information Technology, Legal, Life Sciences, Marketing & Digital, Office Professionals, Procurement, Supply Chain and Sales. Hays China was named Best Workplace™ and Best Workplaces™ for Women in Greater China 2019, and recently ranked one of the the Best Workplaces™ in Asia by Great Place to Work®.

 

 

Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Australia and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe, Latin America and Asia. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 30 June 2020 the Group employed c.10,400 staff operating from 266 offices in 33 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2020:

–    the Group reported net fees of £996.2 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £135.0 million;
–    the Group placed around 66,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 235,000 people into temporary roles;
–    17% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 26% in Germany, 23% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 34% in Rest of World (RoW);
–    the temporary placement business represented 59% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 41% of net fees;
–    IT is the Group’s largest specialism, with 25% of net fees, while Accountancy & Finance (15%) and Construction & Property (12%), are the next largest
–    Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA