Covering basic expenses top financial concern for 1 in 2 Romanians

20% of millennials, freelancers, or low-income workers believe job security has decreased in 2023, according to the MKOR Employee Sentiment 2024 study.   The study looked at the comparative analysis between the years 2022 and 2023, together with the prospects that Romanian employees have for 2024. Employees in Romania face a number of challenges regarding working conditions and their career development, as the professional environment evolves and adapts to socio-economic and technological changes.   Labor market uncertainty is up 8% from 2022, but workload is also up 8% for 49% of employees, especially Millennials and high earners. Relative to salary and benefit increases, 4 in 10 employees received raises in 2023, up 7% from 2022, especially for Millennials and full-time employees.   Regarding professional development, 24% benefited from development opportunities (training, promotion, etc.) especially women, part-time employees and Gen Z.   The main factors that influence employees’ decision to change jobs are: higher income 80%, more fringe benefits (37%) and job security (33%), according to the study.   8 out of 10 young people would change their job for a higher income, especially men, those over 26 and parents with minor children.   “We wanted to find out what plans and expectations the employees have, but also their personal concerns. In this study, we retrospectively analyze the year 2023 from the employees’ perspective, through the prism of some key indicators: safety, financial aspects, growth opportunities, workload, flexibility and team dynamics. According to the analyzed data, the labor market was marked by a series of contrasting trends that directly affected the employee experience in 2023″, said Cori Cimpoca, founder of MKOR.   Gen Z: 7 out of 10 young people prefer to work from home or remotely   Flexibility is more important to Gen Z, and young people are not willing to negotiate this aspect. 7 out of 10 young people prefer to work from home or remotely, too 2 out of 10 want to be able to work from home at least three days a week.   8 out of 10 young people say that the main motivation to change their job is a more competitive financial proposition. Flexible working hours (37%) and opportunities for career advancement (27%) are the next most important criteria. On average, young people expect to stay in the same position for a year before being promoted.   Pessimistic expectations regarding the evolution of the labor market in Romania 7 out of 10 people believe that the number of unemployed people will increase in 2024, and 3 out of 10 people think that the situation of the organization where they work will worsen in 2024. At the same time, 54% say they have a stable team and have stayed with the same number of colleagues.   Among the biggest concerns for young people in Romania are the level of wages (40%) and physical health (38%). The study was conducted on a representative sample of 4524 people.