Naval Architecture Employment Report
The Naval Architecture Employment Report highlights trends, challenges, and opportunities in the sector. The report draws insights from a series of surveys conducted between 2019 and 2023, offering a clear picture of the evolving landscape in the field of naval architecture.
Retention and job-seeking sentiments
The job market is currently candidate-led, with a substantial increase in the time it takes to hire new talent. Retention rates among naval architects have shown promising signs, with job-seeking sentiments decreasing year-on-year. However, it's crucial to note that experienced candidates, particularly those with over 15 years of post-graduate experience, are actively seeking new opportunities.
Motivations for job-seeking
The top motivations for naval architects considering job changes are compensation and career development. The demand for promotions is evolving into a desire for "micro-markers," indicating that professionals seek incremental growth through learning opportunities, mentoring, new challenges, and increased responsibility.
Work-life balance as a loyalty factor
Work-life balance continues to be a dominant factor in retaining naval architects. Nearly 50% of respondents cited it as their primary reason for staying with their current employer. Moreover, an overwhelming 74% of surveyed professionals prioritise work-life balance over salary. To enhance work-life balance, naval architects value flexible working hours, sufficient annual leave entitlement, remote work options, the absence of work-related interruptions during leave, and a reduced need for overtime.
Relocation preferences
The desire for relocation among naval architects has shown a decline, marking a shift from previous years. London emerged as the most attractive maritime hub for naval architects, followed by Singapore, Oslo, and Copenhagen.
Working styles
The working styles of naval architects have remained relatively consistent. Notably, the desire for full-time remote work has slightly decreased, while the preference for hybrid work has increased.
Remote work and flexible hours for job acceptance
The report highlights the growing importance of access to some remote work and flexible hours in job offer acceptance. A significant percentage of naval architects would reject a job offer if it did not offer these options.
Compensation and pay rises
Compensation remains a crucial aspect of talent management in the naval architecture field. Notably, the frequency of pay rises has increased, with 55% of naval architects receiving a pay rise in the last six months, reflecting a 19 percentile increase year-on-year. Pay rises of 10% or more have increased, demonstrating employers' willingness to provide significant compensation adjustments.
Employee benefits and communication
Key benefits sought by naval architects include working from home, bonuses, flexi-time, private medical coverage, and enhanced pensions. Employers are increasingly providing these benefits to meet the preferences of their workforce. However, communication about benefits remains a challenge, with a substantial percentage of naval architects never receiving communication from their employers about their benefits.
Desired benefits and employee investment
The top desired benefits identified by naval architects align with those currently received, suggesting that employers are effectively prioritising benefits that matter most to their employees.
Career development and progression
Regular reviews, recognition, and opportunities for growth are key factors that motivate and retain employees. While there is a growing emphasis on the importance of reviews, there remains a gap between those who value reviews and those who receive them.
As the hiring marketplace for naval architects and the ability to retain them becomes increasingly competitive, people strategies will remain important. Attracting new generations has been talked about in detail over the last five years, but the switch to how businesses can retain them in the future is going to become more prevalent. We must also factor in the growing trend of hiring naval architects for non-traditional opportunities, such as superintendents, that we have seen in increasing numbers.
The full report delves deeper into these topics and you can also benefit from reading our recommendations for those who want to re-evaluate some of their talent strategies.
We would like to say a big thank you to all the naval architects who took part this year and have continued to support us with the findings. We would also like to say thank you to our clients who always give us fantastic feedback on these reports and help us to improve them every year.
We wish you all the best with your retention and hiring efforts, and we are here for you when you need us.
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