Great resignation continues in India as attrition levels highest in two decades

The Great Resignation trend continues as the impact is being felt with attrition numbers highest in two decades, showed a report. The term has been in fashion since last year that is seen to be capturing the rising trend of employees leaving jobs or more of a reshuffle with hordes of employees’ job-hopping, exiting their current positions for better ones.

War for Talent has been about acquiring digital skillsets across sectors. As supply struggles to match demand, people costs and attrition numbers will continue to be high, said the report by HR firm Aon. The study analysed data across 1,500 companies from more than 40 industries and attrition across sectors is estimated to be 21% in 2021 compared to 12.8% in 2020.

The Aon survey suggests that salary hikes this year will be an average of 9%, the highest in five years as companies trudge back to the pre-pandemic levels and business outlook improves.

Despite a tough few months with the second and third waves of infections during the COVID-19 pandemic, India continues to project the highest salary increases among the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations in 2022, with Brazil at 5%, Russia at 6.1% and China at 6%, as per the survey.

“Salary increases should come as a welcome break for employees amidst a volatile period. For employers, it could emerge as a doubleedged sword when you combine the rising cost of talent with record-high attrition numbers. This trend is fueled by economic recovery and the need for organizations to invest in new age capabilities to build a resilient workforce,” said Nitin Sethi, partner and CEO of Aon’s Human Capital Solutions in India.