Employee engagement in tech sector hit the most by Covid, says report

Employee engagement and retention has emerged as the worst-hit aspect of organisations in the technology sector amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report.

The other four aspects impacted the most by the pandemic were revenue, client engagement, new clients & projects, and employee productivity, the report by PeopleAsset, an executive search & talent advisory firm, said.

The report said that in a survey of senior leaders across functions and industries, 88.9 per cent of leaders agreed that COVID-19 has had a profound impact on their organizations, with the same number observing that employee engagement and retention were the hardest hit.

When it comes to employee engagement, the organisations are facing the challenges of lack of sense of association with the organization, reduced interconnectedness, communication, team collaboration, and work-life balance, the report said.

A record number of people around the world, especially in the tech industry, have begun to quit their jobs, causing the unprecedented problem of employee turnover, it noted.

This ongoing crisis has created a large supply-demand imbalance as companies fail to meet their talent needs. However, the dynamics of the employment market are changing.
Companies are finding that location barriers are disappearing for knowledge-based work in the post-Covid world, it noted.

The report noted that ‘pandemic stress’ has increased dramatically as employees work from home and are often isolated. For organizations, the COVID crisis has highlighted the need to focus on the mental health and well-being of employees.

Around 69 per cent of the employees surveyed said they value working for organizations that have specific plans focused on improving the physical and mental well-being of employees, the report based on responses of senior leaders across functions and industries said.