Thirty-three per cent of job seekers regarded "expanded portfolio and work experience" as their most valued career progression initiative.— File Photo

HCM CITY (Biz Hub)— Eighty per cent of professionals in Asia have left a position because of a lack of clear career progression, according to the latest white paper from Robert Walters, one of the world's leading specialist recruitment consultancies.

The white paper, titled Using Career Progression To Recruit the Best Professionals, is the first in the Robert Walters Focus Asia white paper series which aims to examine talent management issues that have a critical impact on business performance.

It surveyed over 1,300 professionals and hiring managers across China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Viet Nam.

The survey results showed that 74 per cent of job seekers deemed career progression "very important" when considering new job opportunities.

Most professionals (85 per cent) enquired specifically about career progression during the interview process.

Thirty-three per cent of job seekers regarded "expanded portfolio and work experience" as their most valued career progression initiative.

A majority of organisations (78 per cent) offered career progression in the form of international mobility among their global offices.

Fifty-four per cent of professionals said their organisations "mostly" followed through with the career progression they advertised for the position.

Ten per cent said "always", while 36 per cent did not believe organisations followed through.

Mark Ellwood, managing director of Southeast Asia for Robert Walters, said: "The results reveal that a clearly defined career path is a strong advantage in attracting and retaining the industry's best professionals."

Robert Walters has a network of 53 offices spanning 24 countries, including the UK, Ireland, continental Europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, South Africa and Brazil. — VNS