More than a quarter of employees surveyed worldwide by Kelly Services Inc. say that the recession has made them more loyal to their employers.

Conducted between October and the end of January, the annual Kelly Global Workforce Index surveyed 134,000 people in 29 countries across North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

Of the total, 27 percent said the economic recession has made them feel more loyal to their employer, 10 percent said they feel less loyal, and 63 percent said it has made no difference.

Gen Y employees, age 18-29, have emerged somewhat more loyal than Gen X employees, age 30-47, and baby boomers, age 48-65, according to the study.

About 52 percent of all North American employees surveyed said they were “totally committed” to their jobs, compared with 47 percent in Asia Pacific and 36 percent in Europe.

Among the survey’s other findings:

• All generations cite more interesting or challenging work as the main thing that would make them more engaged with their job, ahead of higher salary or benefits.

• Gen Y and Gen X cite lack of advancement as the main cause of job turnover, while baby boomers pointed to poor management.

• Nearly half of all surveyed baby boomers cited corporate reputation as a critical factor in job choice and job retention, compared with 39 percent of Gen X and 34 percent of Gen Y.

• Only 12 percent of those surveyed said telecommuting or working from home was extremely important to them.

The full Kelly Global Workforce Index is available at http://easypr.marketwire.com/easyir/msc2.do?easyirid=95BBA2C450798961.  

Filed by Sherri Welch of Crain’s Detroit Business, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.

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