PwC’s new study, the ‘2023 Hopes and Fears Global Workforce Survey’, reveals compelling insights.
This year’s key findings:
Transform or die: One-third of workers say their company won’t be economically viable in ten years’ time if it continues on its current course—comparable to the 39% of CEOs who said this earlier in 2023 in PwC’s 26th Annual Global CEO Survey. Notably, gen Z workers are the most pessimistic: 49% say their company won’t survive another decade without change.
Employees are restless: Despite recessionary worries and rising unemployment in some regions, 26% of all respondents say they are likely to change jobs in the next 12 months (up from 19% in our 2022 survey). The number is higher for younger employees, with 35% of gen Z and 31% of millennial respondents planning to change jobs.
Financial hardships increase: 14% of employees around the world struggle to pay bills every month, and another 42% say once they cover their expenses, they have little or nothing left over (up from 37% in 2022). One in five respondents says they have an extra job, in addition to their principal one.
Skills inequity on the rise: 53% of employees say that their job requires specialist training, up from 49% last year. Workers without specialist training are also more likely to be facing financial difficulties than specialist workers, and are less likely to have a clear sense of how their skills will change—all of which could further income inequality.
Workers aren’t afraid of AI: Despite the prospect of AI-fuelled job losses, respondents cite the positive impacts of AI more frequently than they do the negative ones. The most common sentiment, expressed by 31% of respondents, is ‘AI will help me increase my productivity/efficiency at work.