# What Workers Want: Key Takeaways from SHRM’s Global Employee Monitor | All Things Work

## Метаданные

- **Канал:** SHRM
- **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGjH5pAm-A8
- **Дата:** 07.05.2026
- **Длительность:** 31:24
- **Просмотры:** 163
- **Источник:** https://ekstraktznaniy.ru/video/50588

## Описание

What keeps people in their jobs – and what quietly pushes them out the door? As workplace expectations shift and uncertainty around AI and the economy grows, employees are rethinking what they truly need to stay engaged and committed at work. 

Daroon Jalil, senior researcher at SHRM, breaks down key insights from SHRM’s Global Employee Monitor, an expansive study of workers across 26 countries. From the surprising disconnect between what employees value vs. what they prioritize, to the critical role managers play in retention, we unpack what today’s workforce actually wants...and how those expectations are evolving in real time. 

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SHRM is a member-driven catalyst for creating better workplaces where people and businesses thrive together. As the trusted authority on all things work, SHRM is the foremost expert, researcher, advocate, and thought leader on issues and innovations impacting today’s evolving workplaces. With nearly 340,000 m

## Транскрипт

### Segment 1 (00:00 - 05:00) []

When we looked at engagement, it wasn't pay, it wasn't benefits. Those were not the strongest drivers of engagement. Actually, the number one driver was um meaningful work and um you know, opportunities to develop skills, having clarity in their role. So, knowing like what am I doing in this role? What is expected of me? Welcome everyone. I'm Anne Sparco, host of Sherm's All Things Work podcast and part of our content marketing team here at Sherm. Today we are breaking down the real reasons people stay, leave, and engage with their jobs. Headlines often guess what workers want or feel, but it is easy to lose sight of the facts on the ground. That is why Sherm launched its new quarterly global employee monitor to keep a finger on the pulse of workers around the world. And today we are unpacking key findings from Sherm's detailed research about what truly matters to workers. We will clarify the push and pull factors driving job decisions, why basic perks are not enough for engagement, and how worker workers views on AI are evolving. Now together we will walk away with a clear understanding of what employers employees value and actionable strategies to improve our workplaces. Joining me today is Darun Jalil, a senior researcher at Sherm who led this indepth report. Darun, welcome. — Thank you, Ann. I'm really glad to be here and excited to talk to you today about the research that we conducted. — So excited to have you. We know that this is an amazing report and your background is just phenomenal here at Sherm. We love the work you do. This report surveyed workers across 26 countries. tell us about the main regions of the globe you invest you investigated in this study and why it's so important to understand these trends on an international scale. — Yeah, thank you an so this survey was truly a global survey. We surveyed workers across the world. We had representation across North and South America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. So really kind of up and down side to side across the globe. Um and we really thought it was important to understand these trends at an international scale because the world of work is no longer confined by geography. Companies operate with a global footprint. Um there's distributed work teams across different countries and crossber partnerships and clients. So for organizations working across different countries, the experience of workers and the expectations that workers have of their employers is not necessarily universal. So, and there's also economic conditions, labor market conditions, and just a lot of local context variables that help shape employee behavior. So, we uh were wanting to kind of take our research to the next level and kind of broach this more global approach to help make more informed to help organizations make those more informed strategic decisions for those organizations that do operate at that level. But it's also useful for organizations even if they're not operating at an international level. there's country specific findings as well that can still be valuable to those that are operating within um a country. So, kind of being able to provide um insights to both those that work internationally and within. — I love that. Thank you for breaking that down for us because we know that this is a really in-depth report. Um and today we're touching on so much, but we know there's a lot more to it as well. So, uh, digging into it a little bit more, what data did you find the most surprising from this research report? And what was actually the least surprising? And, you know, can you break us down why? — Yeah. So, one thing that really stood out to me um is the clear distinction between retention and engagement. So, a lot of organizations treat them as the same, but the data shows that they're really driven by different factors. foundational elements like pay and security are what keep people in their roles, but it's the autonomy, the meaningful work, uh recognition and development that keeps people engaged in their day-to-day basis. So, it was really I think that really stood out to me as something very interesting. And, um, I guess what was the least surprising was that, you know, pay is consistently emerged as the top factor in workers decisions of whether or not they join, they stay or they leave an organization. So, I mean, while that's expected, I don't think it should be dismissed because it really reinforces something that's really fundamental and that's that employment relationship is ultimately an exchange of time and skills and expertise for compensation and that is kind of the root of like any job. And so, because of that, pay remains central to attracting talent. So, it isn't something that organizations can afford to overlook. So while it is um not surprising, I think it is kind of reinforcing and it should kind of just like bring that back to light that like hey you know people are working for money and so we should be mindful of that. — Let's dive into the core data here. You touched on you know the pay part. Um so

### Segment 2 (05:00 - 10:00) [5:00]

let's dig into that a little bit more and the other contributing factors. So the report highlights an ecosystem of push and pull factors. You define this in your report. The data confirmed pay, you know, is the cornerstone of the employee experience. Uh the data specifically says 94% of workers who were satisfied with their pay say they're more inclined to stay in their jobs. Again, not the most surprising like you said, but super important. So what are the other top contributing factors to job satisfaction and willingness to stay in their jobs and how do they play a role um you know in a employees uh desire to stay or search for a new role? — Yeah. So um in this research we asked workers about their satisfaction with 19 different aspects of their job. Things like pay, benefits, job security, work life balance, manager, work environment, kind of all the essentials that make up a job. And then we looked at how satisfaction with those various components connected to whether or not they've been searching for a new job. Um actively job, seriously considering leaving their current job if they are inclined to stay or if they're inclined to leave their current job. And so what we found was that a few key factors stood out uh beyond pay and that is um job security, the benefits, uh a fair and respectful work environment, career advancement opportunities, work life balance and their managers. So um when in essence when workers feel secure, when they feel respected and when they feel supported and you know kind of see a path to grow, they're much more likely to stay. So that was related to their inclinations to stay at their job. And then they're much less likely to actually be look actively look for another job and to kind of be considering um thinking about leaving their jobs as well. — I think a lot of us can relate to that too. Um you know beyond the pay you know we're all thinking about this as well as employees or managers as well. So why is it so important for us as employers, employees, man, people managers to really understand um about the whole package of benefits beyond just the pay even though we know pay is the top factor there. You know, why is it so important to think about the whole picture here? — Yeah. So I mean it really shows that job decisions uh you know workers when they're making decisions about their job, it's really multi-dimensional. Pay matters, but so do growth opportunities. So do everyday experiences at work. And retention is really about how or how well organizations are able to deliver across all those dimensions because I mean like we said before pay matters. If there's two organizations that offer similar levels of pay what is what can you offer beyond that and that's where kind of is like where you can provide something unique where you can you know get that talent that you really need is like okay like we have a competitive um salary but what else is there? What is there about our work environment? Can we provide opportunities for growth? Um, so I think that's why it's really important to kind of consider the whole package because it is it can give you the edge over what other organizations may be doing when you're trying to find that talent. — So the research also shows somewhat of a significant gap between what employees value and how satisfied they are. So can you go over some of the numbers regarding what employees value in pay, benefits, career advancement, and how they differ from what employers value? Yeah. So when we had asked workers what attracted them to their current job, it was those top factors that we talked about. Pay was number one. 45% said that pay is what attracted them to their current job. 32% said it was the benefits. 30% said job security. 30% said work life balance and career advancement opportunities. So those were kind of the main factors that consistently show up as the um kind of decisions on whether or not you come in or leave. And so what's what was really interesting is that these are kind of the same areas where dissatisfaction was the highest. So pay, career advancement, and um benefits, those ranked as the top three factors where workers had the highest dissatisfaction. Um, so it really highlights that there's a clear gap between what workers value the most and what they feel like they're actually getting — and um it definitely points to that misalignment and whether or not it may be that organizations are unable to provide it or maybe they're unwilling to offer it but it's what workers are wanting and um you know organ I feel like some of these like we said before it's not super surprising so I would say I would probably bet that organizations generally understand what matters to employees pay, benefits, growth, security. So we seen that the gap is really in like are they able to consistently deliver on those expectations and because these are the foundational elements of the employee value proposition. These are kind of the foundational things that kind of make up a job and so when you fall short on that

### Segment 3 (10:00 - 15:00) [10:00]

it really has an outsized impact on attent like attraction and retention because you're like this is kind of the foundation of a job. this is what I would expect. And so like if you can't deliver on what is like the baseline expectation that may you kind of have like a really strong reaction to like why can't my organization provide me with kind of the bare minimum. AI is accelerating, regulations are shifting, but expectations aren't slowing down. Sherm 26 is where HR leaders get clear on what to do next and how to do it. Prices increase May 16th. Register now at sherm. org/sherm. — org/sherm26. — So we talked about managers as well. They play a massive role in retention and your data found nearly 93% of workers satisfied with their mana man managers lean towards staying in their jobs. I think a lot of us can relate to this. So what does this say about the impact of that manager employee relationship? Can you dive into that a little bit? Yeah, I think it definitely just kind of reinforces what that phrase that we hear a lot that people don't leave jobs, they leave managers. And it really speaks to that important role that managers play in employee retention. You know, managers, they play this critical role in employee experience. They're that lynch pin between workers and the organization. They allocate the resources, they implement the policies, they shape that day-to-day work, and they influence opportunities for growth. All of these which are really important for workers. Like we said, these are the things that um can be we'll talk about this a little bit again, but the engagement, the aspects that impact worker engagement like their opportunities to develop different skills, their autonomy in their work, receiving recognition, these are the things that are really important to workers in their engagement. And these are the things that managers play a really important role in. So um they set the team for the culture, daily interaction. So how many just show up can really significantly impact the employee experience and you know that's what we see in the data and it really we see it anecdotally all the time as well. — We often conflate what drives retention with what drives engagement. We teased the head to this earlier but they are different retention and engagement. So Darren, how do the drivers of retention actually differ from the intrins intrinsic factors that actually fuel employee engagement like autonomy and meaningful work? — Yeah. So like I had alluded to before, this was what I thought was one of the most interesting findings and it's a you know the factors that are getting people in the door tend to be the relatively transactional ones that are reflect the essence of a job pay, benefits, job security, career advancement. So these are kind of fundamental and while that is really important to get them in the door and kind of keep them in the door, what is actually engaging them on a day-to-day level is really different. So when we looked at engagement, it wasn't pay, it wasn't benefits. Those were not the strongest drivers of engagement. Actually, the number one driver was um meaningful work and um you opportunities to develop skills, having clarity in their role. So knowing like what am I doing in this role? What is expected of me? um having autonomy in their role. So deciding how they do their work to a you know to a reasonable extent having autonomy and how they do their work when they do their work and you know essentially not having a micromanager and also recognition just having recognition and being recognized for the work that you do. Those were the top factors that drove engagement. Engagement being you know feeling excited about the work, feeling enjoyment from the work that they're doing, looking forward to working. And so compensation and security really matter for retention. But when it comes to the day-to-day experience of like work itself, — those it's the aspects of the job and the work that you're doing that really can drive engagement for workers. — I feel like people tuning in are like nodding their head along with me because the more you were talking about that, I was like, "Yes, yes, exactly. " I never would have thought of that by myself to think uh of the difference between the two or separating the two because my brain immediately wanted to group them together thinking well if you have good engagement you have good retention and it's like no those are two different factors overall and I love that you defined them. — Yeah. Like I mean if I need a job or you know I need to pay the bills like I'm gonna if I'm going to stay at my job. But if you want me to be happy and really engaged and looking forward and being happy to like log in then like I need a little bit of like I need to find purpose in the work that I'm doing and I need to kind of feel excited about the work that I'm doing. And so I think there is like even when you think about it at a personal level like yeah even if maybe I don't love the work that I do but I need to pay the bills I'll probably stay here. But you know if I can have both then you're going to have a great like you'll have a great employee that's really engaged. — Yeah. — Yeah. There's a difference between wanting to do the job versus

### Segment 4 (15:00 - 20:00) [15:00]

work. [clears throat] And I think that really drives uh the real difference in organizational success with talent. So looking at the global context, we see varied overall satisfaction across different countries. Which um areas from your research did you see, you know, maybe the least satisfaction and which regions had the most? Can you tell us a little bit about the difference? I'm just curious. — Yeah. So um what was interesting was that there actually wasn't like a region to be like okay this region everybody's happy this region everybody's sad. It was quite a mix. So the countries that had the highest were um Saudi Arabia, India, South Africa, Nigeria and Brazil. Those countries out of the 26 that we surveyed those had the relatively highest levels of satisfaction. And so that was um we averaged like so we asked you know like I said the 19 questions of like how satisfied are you with this business? We took the average of that and then they those countries had the highest average. Um and then the countries that had the lowest were South Korea, Japan, France, and Italy. So those had the lowest levels of satisfaction. And um just something to note though is that even though these are the lowest, it still hovers around the midpoint. So we're at like a level. So on a scale of 1 to five, the countries that had the highest were like right around four and above and the countries that had the lowest were like around like three. So with averages, it's important to know that like with averages, everything kind of just like hovers around the middle. So even small differences reflects kind of a big difference in the actual like what's actually going on. And um anyway, so all that to say it's not a story of like extreme dissatisfaction where countries like workers in these countries are like extremely dissatisfied, but more so relative differences. So we see that in those countries workers are very like relatively much more satisfied with aspects of their job and but also like scoring a three an average of a three like there's definitely room for improvement in a lot of areas there. So you know context matters um there's factors there's cultural num there's a lot of cultural norms to take into consideration some workers from certain countries may feel um they may just rate more conservatively. They may actually have the same level of satisfaction but they just more conservatively. um there's a lot of economic conditions that are that play an important role um feeling like um stability in their job. There's a lot of differences in like stability in their job. So all of these can really shape how workers evaluate their experiences. So — all that to say yeah — no I love that you brought made the distinction there. — Some days it feels like you're just running to keep up. With Sherm you set the pace and you stay ahead. Sherm membership now gives you access to business intelligence, advanced benchmarking, and in the- moment support from HR experts. Rely on Sherm because if it's a work thing, it's a Sherm thing. — Let's turn to a topic on every leader and worker's mind lately. It's been the topic of the year in the past couple years, artificial intelligence, AI, particularly generative AI. So, Drew, your research found workers are still concerned with how AI will change their roles. Um it found 33% worried they may lose their jobs within the next year and we also have some AI research uh with Sherm that talks about jobs at risk report. Um so that's interesting too for our audience tuning in. So many of us can relate to this fear. We're all thinking you know how is this going to shift? transfer my job? Does it mean I'm at risk? So from your research which countries actually showed fewer concerns about job displacement? — Yeah. So some of the countries that showed fewer concerns uh one of them was like the US um Canada. So these countries showed fewer concerns and then some of the countries that showed more concerns were um like Nigeria, India and Uganda. And so while we didn't ask specifically you know why are you concerned about this I think it's important to consider kind of maybe some of the larger macro reasons. So in those countries um a lot of the labor market is concentrated in those routine like automatable like roles and like clerical roles, customer support u back service roles, IT roles and so those roles are the mo ones some of the ones that are most exposed to AI. Um, and then in some other countries like the US where the some of the roles are a little bit more um, highly skilled, they may be a little bit less susceptible to AI. But I would argue that maybe some of it is also just maybe confidence of workers where they maybe we're just like a little bit like oblivious to like, hey, actually AI may take over. So I think it's a little bit of both. — Like we said, a lot of things playing factors here. Uh, I think that's really important to take into consideration when we're talking about any of this data throughout this report. So, as our audience is digging into the numbers, really try to take this into consideration as well. There's just a lot more at play here, and that's important to um, keep in mind. So, you

### Segment 5 (20:00 - 25:00) [20:00]

know, how can employers really utilize this data to address those overall AI concerns? cuz you know we'd be long if we said you know even though there's maybe fewer concerns in certain countries versus others that doesn't mean there's no concerns. Yeah. So one part of addressing kind of AI concerns comes down to trust and transparency. So clearly communicating how AI will be used um not just what it can do but what it won't replace or what it won't do and positioning AI as like a tool that really enhances their work rather than replaces workers is critical. So reassuring um it needs to be backed by action like we can't organizations can't just say oh yeah yeah don't worry and then not back it by any action there needs to be kind of clear guard rails in place where's the human oversight where are the checks and balances where are the defined limits of where AI is applied so at the end of the day it's about building a culture where AI is seen as a partner but through trust and transparency and like being honest about like you know this is what it will replace or what it will change Because while a third of workers were worried that um AI would replace their jobs entirely, about 43% were worried that AI would drastically change their jobs. So they're more are worried about how AI is actually changing their jobs than AI replacing them completely. And so that's somewhere that's very actionable for organizations is figuring out okay like let's — kind of make it clear how it will change their jobs what we need from them how like what upskilling will be required from them what different skill set is going to be expected from them from the next year or two or three and how we can enable that. So, a little bit of both build there needs to be that trust of AI as um a partner and then also building up that workforce to be ready to use it as a partner and not just like see it as taking it over — and being open to that change, being open to upskilling because job transformation is inevitable when it comes to AI. Um — I mean I think your data really supports that as well. you know the employers are adopting AI at a great rate. Um and to digress a little bit you know there is we Sherm does have the uh automation generative AI and jobs at risk displacement um you know report that was with uh your colleague Justin Ladner um and uh they did talk about that report um just caveat you know that was also just US-based it wasn't a global uh research report um but it discussed the barriers uh to full displacement and I think that eased a lot of concerns fears so I feel like that goes hand inand a little bit. Um, but you can correct me there. Um, but I just thought the displacement risk, um, the barriers to full displacement like client preferences, regulation, you know, legal. Um, I think that's that also puts it into perspective like we're putting everything into perspective on the contributing factors here, right? — Yeah, absolutely. And one of the questions we had asked in the survey was like, how often are you using AI in the work that you're doing and what types of AI you're using? And we're seeing that workers are like at least I don't have the number right in front of me, but it's at least like I would say at least um a quarter that are using it pretty often regularly in the work that they're doing. So it's not that workers are so apprehensive too that like no I absolutely don't want to use this like they're using it in the work that they're doing. So it's just a matter of like — finding that balance and that understanding of like what is the work that we should be using it for? When is it a partner? When is it you know so just kind of all of us reaching a mutual understanding. — of like when we're using AI, what we're using it for, what it's going to do and what it's not going to do. Yeah, — that's the beauty of I'm so glad that you um you know, asked that in your research. Uh I think that's so important. You know, workers, they are actively building their skills according to your report, including those AI skills and trying to adapt to that change. They're open to that change and this signals a workforce that is preparing for evolving future rather than resisting it as you mentioned. So, how does this adaptability contrast with their cautious outlook on the broader economy? Because I know you said economic factors are are, you know, playing a role here. — Yeah. So, it seems that workers are doing what they can in their sphere of influence to provide a buffer against that ever evolving landscape of work and challenges in the broader economy. So, we found that 86% said that they have actively worked to build or improve their skills and 83% said they've developed skills that will help them adapt in the future. And that's all within the past 12 months that 86% of those that we surveyed said that, you know, they're working on trying to build those skills. So, definitely a level of adaptability there, a level of openness to to upskilling and to kind of staying relevant in the workforce. But on the other hand, we're seeing that the outlook for the broader economy is much more cautious. So concerns about job opportunities, um concerns uh with the cost of living

### Segment 6 (25:00 - 30:00) [25:00]

concerns with just the overall economic conditions suggest that even as like workers are feeling capable, they're not as confident in the environment that they're operating in. So workers are feeling ready for the future, but they're not really sure if the systems around them are or even that will like support them in that. So, — it's a difficult it's a difficult position for workers to be in and it seems like they're trying to do what they can to buffer against it. — In your research, you also found relatively few workers report having strong financial well-being and like you mentioned they are cautious about the global economic environment. So, how does this financial anxiety uh you know or lack of financial well-being might be impacting day-to-day performance and job search behaviors? Because like we mentioned before, there's contributing factors to what's making people search for new roles. — Yeah. So we found that only about one in four workers view the job market and economic conditions and cost of living favorably in their country. So only one in four are viewing it as favorably. The most the rest are viewing it either unfavorably or just kind of like eh it's eh. So and we found that workers who reported who basically reported poor economic conditions also reported lower job performance. And then they also reported more job searching and higher turnover intentions. So, you know, as humans, we're always trying to kind of reduce our discomfort. And so, if we're feeling a lot of discomfort in the financial aspect, what's our source of money is usually our jobs. And so, if that's not providing us with the security that we need, then we're going to be looking for jobs elsewhere. And so that's what we're seeing here at this level as well is that there's more job searching and higher turnover attentions with um workers that report kind of poor economic conditions. As we consider these trends, um how do you foresee employers balancing the need for technological advances like AI uh with maintaining a positive and supportive employee experience or kind of going back to that employee engagement, employee experience conversation? Yeah, absolutely. And I think both can coexist and a balance is possible. The key is really how AI is positioned and how it's implemented. Like we had talked about before, when employers frame AI as like a tool that enhances employees work rather than replaces them, then it's just that mindset from a threat to a support. So here's a tool that supports you in your work instead of here's a threat of like what's taking over your job. So um but there needs to be clear communication for that to happen about like where we're using AI, how it fits into that role and where the safeguards are. So um but it also comes down to like investing in people providing training, upskilling opportunities involving employees. So I think if workers kind of take that approach of like tempering um employee concerns related to AI and treating it as a tool, I think that is it would be it would do a lot to kind of maintain a positive overall employee experience because there is going to be less of that job instability, concerns of job instability as well. — What do you really want them to walk away with today? uh using Sherm's research to build stronger workplace culture while also delivering measurable results to improve their business's bottom line. — Yeah, I think kind of the biggest takeaway is to be intentionable intentional about what you're trying to drive. So if your goal is to attract talent or reduce turnover, then you should focus on the fundamentals of that employment relationship. Pay, benefits, career development. Um, these are kind of like the table stakes that get people in the door, keep them from leaving. If the goal is to boost engagement, then the focus needs to shift and the focus should be on intrinsic day-to-day work experiences like helping employees find meaning in their work, giving them autonomy, creating opportunities for them to kind of build their skills and recognize them recognizing their contributions. So, I would say kind of the most actionable simple advice I can give is that like to align your strategy with your outcome. So don't rely on that kind of one-sizefits-all approach. — Yes. — If you want to retain, you got to kind of focus on the factors that drive retention. If you want to engage, you focus on those that drive engagement. — What are you looking forward to most as you develop more of this research going through each quarter for the rest of 2026? — Yeah, I'm really um looking forward to honestly I'm looking forward to the end and not because it will be done, but I'm looking forward to having like a really robust sample size. And not that the 5,000 isn't robust, but when we have like, you know, when we'll have like 20,000 and we'll be able to kind of make a lot of meaningful comparisons across countries, a lot of the analyses that we're talking about today and the comp like just kind of the data that we're talking about can be done at a country level. So right now we're doing it overall like across all of the countries but once we have a more robust sample then we could be like oh yeah so like here are the predictors of retention in this country

### Segment 7 (30:00 - 31:00) [30:00]

here are the predictors of retention in this country. So basically I'm just excited for more data so I can do more analyses but that's just the nerd in me. Yeah. — Hey it shows you're passionate and we are so looking forward uh you know to learning more. There's just so much more to come uh in Sherm's thought leadership research overall, let alone the global employee monitor. Uh so thank you so much for breaking down all this data. We know that our members uh and those tuning in will be able to dive in even deeper into the web-based report. So thank you Jarun for sharing your insight and really walking us through the everyday employee no matter what region they're in. So thank you for joining us. — Yeah, thank you. Thank you Ann. I really appreciated your time and having this discussion with you. — Great discussion to have. — All right, that's it for this week. We'll catch you next time. — If you enjoyed our conversation today, be sure to subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcast so you never miss a new episode. Also, did you know all things work is more than a podcast? That's right. We're also a weekly newsletter that includes in-depth articles and the latest research from Sherm to keep you in the know. Just head to sherm. org/allth /all thingswork to sign up. Plus, follow Sherm on social media to view the latest clips and join the conversation on gamechanging topics that are redefining the world of work. Sherm