Employees from the APAC region prefer to be seen as individuals when it comes to rewards and recognition, suggests PERSOLKELLY’s latest survey.  

The survey includes more than nine thousand hiring managers, candidates in nine APAC countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and India. The report highlighted 51% of employees preferred to be treated as individuals rather than collectively with other team members.

Countries such as India (59%), Indonesia (56%) and Thailand (57%), placed the maximum value on individuality. On the other side, respondents from Malaysia (48%), Australia (48%), and Hong Kong (49%) placed the least value on individuality.

Various sectors threw different findings,  education (55%),  legal (56%), arts/entertainment (55%), and other industries were most likely to acknowledge that employees prefer to be treated as individuals rather than as part of a team.

According to the findings, the freelancers (57%) were likely to agree that workers today prefer to be treated as an individual rather than as part of a team. While permanent full-time workers (53%) as well as casual/temporary workers (50%). While the least likely to value individuality were those, who were looking for work (45%).

In the age group category, the agreement was reasonably consistent with slight differences of two to three percentage points.

Gen Z (53%) were the most are more likely to agree that job seekers are looking for individualized employment experiences, followed by Baby Boomers (52%). While those in Gen X and Gen Y were tied at 50%.

Commenting on the findings, Jessica Ang, Regional Head, Corporate Brands Management, APAC at PERSOLKELLY, said, “Employees are increasingly seeking greater ownership of their careers and more flexibility and autonomy in working styles, and these trends are fuelling demand for bespoke work experience. Employees will naturally feel more valued in roles which are tailored to their individual goals, abilities, and motivations.”