New York: Even as economic gloom descended upon the job market worldwide, high potential employees seemed to be the least daunted, with a major chunk of them switching over to new employments in recent months, says a survey.
According to US-based non-profit research group Catalyst, at least one in five high potential employees continued job hopping during the downturn, with 16 percent of women and 21 percent men changing employers during this period.
The survey is based on analysis of data on 873 MBA alumni who graduated between 1996 and 2007 from 26 leading business schools in Asia, Canada, Europe and the US. These people were surveyed between November 2007 to June 2009.
"High potential employees aren't afraid to strike out for greater opportunities despite the continuing recession," the survey noted.
Over 50 percent of high potentials defied odds and had career advancement or development opportunities at the same or a different company during the economic slowdown, it said.
"Top talent around the globe remain confident in their ability to obtain new positions. Businesses cannot afford to assume that the poor economy will keep these high potential women and men from actively seeking better opportunities," Catalyst President & CEO Ilene H Lang said.
"Women senior leaders were more than three times as likely to have lost their jobs because of company downsizing or closure than their male peers," Catalyst said.
At the executive level, a startling 19 percent of women lost their jobs versus just six percent of men.
Going by the findings, more than a third of these skilled women and men received workplace promotions, with European high potentials receiving high promotions (41 percent), followed by Asian (40 percent), United States (33 percent) and those in Canada (23 percent).
"This signified employers' willingness to support this talent pool. Yet, a full 20 percent jumped ship, choosing greater opportunity in the face of the uncertain economy," the survey noted.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 16:13