24 January 2014

Almost 2 in 3 Asia Pacific firms will offer outplacement where there is no legal requirement



The rumours have been rife since the big merger was announced. You know there are too many people at the other company to absorb into your department, and colleagues have been jockeying for the boss' attention ever since, not that his (or her) position is guaranteed, either. Finally, HR calls you up for the meeting that everyone has been waiting for..

When you get fired, outplacement is often the consolation prize,” says Nick Corcodilos, a US-based HR consultant in a November 2013 issue of his popular ‘Ask the Headhunter’ e-newsletter. While the employer works with an outplacement firm to find a new job for the soon-to-be ex-employee, Corcodilos notes that outplacement can be two-edged, particularly if an employer is only offering the service because of legal compliance.

Interestingly, a new global report titled Severance Practices Around the World commissioned by Right Management, a global outplacement provider with 30 years of expertise and which invests US$2 million annually on proprietary research, has found that many employers will pay for outplacement services even when they do not have to do so on a legal basis.

Globally, 68% of respondents said they will ‘provide outplacement even where it is not legally required’ against 70% in the Americas and 68% in Europe. In Asia Pacific, 65% of respondents, almost two in three firms, will help employees with outplacement even if there is no legal requirement to do so.

Corcodilos advises his readers however to participate actively in looking for a job, and suggests taking cash in lieu of an outplacement package, a practice that is also surveyed in Right Management’s report. “Never forget that you are responsible for your next career step,” Corcodilos says.

Source: Right Management. Click here to view the full infographic.

*Input was gathered from 1,859 senior leaders and human resource executives in 19 countries via an online survey between April and May 2013. Right Management sponsored the study, and the research was executed by a third-party firm, US-based International Communications Research. The organisations surveyed were not selected by Right Management, although some clients may have been included in the survey sample. The respondents included 528 from the Asia Pacific region, specifically from Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan and Singapore.