A recent research report found that a majority of people in Asia prefer to work for multinational corporations (MNCs).
Although there is quite a bit of attention on creative and groundbreaking startups, as well as small to medium enterprises (SMEs), a report by Randstad Workmonitor found that:
- 84 percent of Malaysian employees prefer working for a larger MNC. 60 percent wanted to work in startups and 70 percent in small to medium enterprises.
- This trend occurs in other Asian countries as well.
- Among Singaporean workers, 73 percent of respondents want to work for multinational corporations with 57 percent preferring startups and 63 percent preferring SMEs.
- Hong Kong workers showed equal numbers preferring multinational corporations and small to medium enterprises at 71 percent, while 53 percent would prefer working for a startup.
The global marketplace has a different result, though. Globally, this research report found that more employees would prefer working for small to medium enterprises at 64 percent, followed by multinational corporations at 55 percent and startups at 50 percent.
Further breaking down these results, age also plays a part in these preferences.
- Millennials in all three Asian markets had a strong preference of working for multinational corporations.
- In fact, in Malaysia, 87 percent of millennials prefer working for multinational corporations.
- Hong Kong millennials come in at 78 percent and Singaporean millennials are at 80 percent when it comes to a preference for working for MNCs.
- Older workers in both Singapore and Malaysia had similar results to the millennials, but those in Hong Kong preferred small to medium enterprises more.
Researchers believe that two factors are the largest draw to the multinational corporations: job security and work-life balance. This is because MNCs often have more emphasis on these aspects.
In each of these Asian markets, multinational corporations are dominating when it comes to bringing in the best talent. The reason behind this is that they are able to take their brand name and the reputation that goes along with it, in addition to larger resources and attractive company culture as a draw for job seekers.
However, there are some changes occurring in these areas when it comes to the labor market. Over time, local SMEs are getting better at meeting employee needs and becoming attractive workplaces.