June 19th, 2020, Deepa Bhatia
Although most Indian employees feel their employers have treated them well during this difficult time, some sectors show far higher satisfaction levels than others
YouGov’s latest research reveals that Indian employees are extremely positive about how their employer has treated them during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 59% rating their company’s treatment of staff as ‘excellent’ (31%) or ‘very good’ (28%).
However, when looking at the various sectors, we see some differences in the levels of satisfaction. Considering an average satisfaction of 55%, the levels are noticeably higher among employees working in the Education (66%) sector, followed by IT & telecom (62%) and Construction companies (57%). Professionals in Retail (55%) and Manufacturing sectors (55%) reported average levels of satisfaction, but those in Finance/ Accounts (48%) and Media/ Marketing/ Advertising (42%) showed lower degree of satisfaction than the others.
On the other hand, 23% of all respondents said their employer’s treatment was ‘good’ and only 19% rated their treatment as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’. This proportion is considerably higher among those working in the Manufacturing and Retail industry (24% and 20%, respectively rating ‘Fair’ or ‘Poor’).
When asked about the behaviour of various sectors within the Indian economy in response to the pandemic, residents were more likely to say that most of the sectors have behaved well rather than poorly.
The Pharmaceuticals sector (83%) leads among businesses perceived to have responded well to the pandemic, followed by Utilities (79%), Banks (76%) and Technology sectors (75%).
Many are happy with the response of Media (69%), Food & Drink manufacturers (58%) and Supermarket companies (55%).
When it comes to Fast-food companies, a higher number find their behaviour poor rather than well- 48% compared to 37%. However, ratings of poor response are much higher for sectors such as Holiday & Travel companies (53%), Leisure Companies (52%) and Airlines (51%), where a majority described the behaviour of these companies as poor.
With regard to companies who have lost most of their day-to-day business, four in ten Indians believe that despite the circumstances employees should be kept fully employed and fully paid (40%). More than a quarter (26%), however, said employees should have their pay cut until normal work resumes. A small minority feel if necessary, some employees should be laid off altogether from their jobs (12%) or should be furloughed (11%).
When it comes to government action to ensure companies are better suited to handle any future crises, close to half think the government should make companies release an annual statement about how they can deal with a future pandemic (48%), and should make them pay into a fund designed to provide protection in the future (46%).
36% feel companies should pay more to have better insurance against such events, and an equal number (36%) believe the company directors should be personally made more accountable for the business’s ability to deal with such situations. Some (14%) feel that companies are not to blame, or already pay enough tax and have enough regulations.
Thinking about the future of work, a majority predict lesser business travel and greater use of video conferencing (56%) because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Many believe that remote working will be relied on far more for many businesses (46%) and more organisations will shut stores and move their businesses to online-only (41%).
Alongside this, 39% believe profits will be retained by businesses in future to allow for an emergency fund in times of crisis. Many employees foresee attitudinal changes within companies in India; with 46% predicting companies making more efforts to support their local communities and 30% believing that businesses will value their existing employees more.
Data collected online by YouGov Omnibus among 931 working respondents in the country between 9th and 15thJune 2020 using YouGov’s panel of over 6 million people worldwide. Data is representative of the adult online population in the country