47% of employees report workplace discrimination in India, shows survey

Mumbai: Around 34 per cent of organisations in the country struggle to find the right talent and one in three grapples with retaining existing employees as the gap between employer expectations and employee realities regarding hiring and retention continues to grow, according to a report.

Even as employers and job seekers agree that flexibility, higher salaries and career progression are top priorities, employees value company culture and ethics more than the organisations realise while organisations overvalue the importance of brand and incentives, said Michael Page 'Talent Trends 2024 - India Expectation Gap' report.

Coming out of the pandemic, a convergence of factors resulted in a subtle but transformative change in workplace dynamics, with people thinking more holistically about the value their job gives to their lives, said Nicolas Dumoulin, Michael Page Senior Managing Director for India, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam.

Michael Page 'Talent Trends 2024 - India Expectation Gap' report is based on interviews among 3,087 respondents across India.

The report further revealed that, on one hand, companies struggle to meet salary expectations, while on the other hand, they face a scarcity of applicants with the required skills who also align with the organisation's culture.

Meanwhile, the report found that most employees are open to new careers and job roles in 2024 compared to last year and 94 per cent of respondents were open to exploring different roles this year, according to the report.

Though openness to new roles has varied slightly across demographics, this shift has endured since 2022, during the great resignation, it added.

The report also revealed that 41 per cent of respondents in India would refuse a promotion to maintain well-being.

When it came to workplace discrimination, the report found that in India 47 per cent of employees report workplace discrimination, which is higher than the Asia Pacific average of 31 per cent.

However, 45 per cent of the Indian employees who experienced discrimination still face barriers in formally reporting such incidents, it added.

"Discrimination remains a pervasive issue in India's workplaces, as highlighted in our 'Talent Trends 2024 - India Expectation Gap' report. This has created an urgent need for comprehensive diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives to address systematic bias and foster a more inclusive environment...," Michael Page India Managing Director Anshul Lodha told PTI.