HS Gallup poll: Job cuts reduce work motivation of those remaining

Commitment to work increases among Finns

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Dismissals and other measures that weaken the position of employees at a workplace also tend to weaken the commitment of those whose jobs were not axed.
      A poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat and conducted by Suomen Gallup indicates that employees at workplaces where job cuts and other measures that weaken the position of the staff have been enacted tend to be more eager to change jobs or leave work altogether.
      The survey is based on interviews with 2,000 working men and women conducted in November.
     
The overall tendency is toward more commitment to work, even though more value is being placed on free time and family life.
      According to a study conducted by Statistics Finland early in the autumn, 56% of women and 61% of men felt that the work they do for a living is a very important part of their lives.
      The percentages are higher than they were ten years ago, and job commitment has grown especially among women and those under the age of 35. The study also found that fixed term employees are as committed as those with long-term contracts.
      Women especially see the content of their work to be more important than pay.
     
In the HS Gallup poll, 35% of respondents whose workplaces had cut jobs felt that it is likely, or fairly likely, that they will work for another employer within two or three years.
      Also more likely to leave are those at workplaces where other measures had been taken to weaken the position of employees: 32% of those working at such workplaces felt that they were likely to seek employment elsewhere in the coming years, compared with 17% at workplaces where no such measures had been enacted.
      Job cuts and reductions of incentives also appear to push people out of the job market. Six percent of those whose workplaces have enacted such measures say they are considering leaving work altogether, compared with three percent who have not experienced such measures.
     
Other possible factors affecting people's desire to quit their jobs include the spate of job cuts last autumn and the overall situation in the job market.
      A study by the Ministry of Labour in the early autumn suggested that employees are experiencing greater psychological strain at work, and that motivation was seen to have deteriorated significantly.
      Anna-Maija Lehto of Statistics Finland points out that young people are just as committed to their work as older people.
      "The trend, which differs from what many studies suggest, is that there is a radical tendency toward portfolio thinking and short term contracts", Lehto points out.
      She refers to the tendency of some to take on short-term employment, aimed primarily at career development and establishing networks for the future.
      These "portfolio nomads" can work hard, but are often only semi-motivated, or as Antti Hautamäki, head of the innovation programme of the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development (SITRA), puts it: "Commitment to work is just an interim phase of the learning process."


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Poll: one in five employed Finns expect job cuts at their workplace (10.1.2005)

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