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It’s a new dawn for the corporate world, as new generations have been entering the workforce. Fresh graduates, those who are looking to shift their careers or enhance their skills, or even the new professionals, are essential in shaping the future of businesses with their brand-new perspectives, innovation, and other skills needed to fuel a company’s success.
But there’s one particular trend that’s been boggling seasoned and established members of the working class: Why are the new ones job-hopping?
Job-hopping, in its essence, is when a person frequently shifts from one job to another within a shorter period of time, typically less than three years. For some, frequent career changes raise concerns about employee loyalty and long-term commitment, with some viewing it as a potential challenge for businesses as people move from job to job.
Human Resources (HR) platform Sprout Solutions revealed that individuals aged 20 to 24—part of Gen Z—prefer staying with one company for one to three years, while those aged 45 to 54 tend to seek new opportunities after less than a decade with a single employer. This trend, which grew during the pandemic, continues to persist beyond it.
Now that it is slowly developing into a norm for Gen Zs and even millennials, how should a company address this particular phenomenon?
The solution lies within the “vibe”— it’s not as easy as it sounds, but it is attainable, as proven by graphic design platform Canva Philippines.
It starts with a feeling
Canva, originally founded in Australia, expanded its presence to the Philippines in 2014, marking its first international office. Nearly a decade later, it has grown into a vibrant working atmosphere. Today, Canva has more than 900 employees spanning various departments beyond design.
What sets the tone of the workplace at Canva is the office atmosphere. Chardy Yabut, Canva’s Asia Vibe Lead, highlighted the tangible and intangible features they offer their employees and how they accommodate nearly a thousand of people working across various shifts.
“For me, a thriving workplace culture should always feel intentional and personal,” Yabut said in an exclusive interview with Manila Bulletin.
Canva is known for its artistic designs, but they’re not just for aesthetics. Everything offered in the office space has a purpose, and that is to bring the “vibe,” which allows workers to ease tension, stress, and other common nuances that may reflect or impact their work.
“What we really want to happen is for our team to feel seen and cared for… What we usually do [as a vibe lead] is translate our culture into something tangible that the employees can really benefit [from] and feel,” Yabut explained.
He believes that addressing common workplace struggles through recreational activities—such as an in-office gym, free-flowing food and snacks, board game sessions, and an open cafe and bar for mixers—can help reduce the stress of day-to-day work.
While fun and recreational activities are part of the workplace culture, Canva also offers support for employees facing mental or emotional challenges. Employees experiencing mental blocks or distress can seek guidance from the company’s in-house mentor and coach, while those in need of solitude have designated quiet spaces.
Additionally, the company supports parents by allowing them to bring their children to work, with a nursery room available to help maintain productivity.
“[We have] a mission that helps us show up for each other on a day-to-day basis,” Yabut said, pointing out other key adjustments they can provide for their workers to feel comfortable.
Everything is intentional
When it comes to designing a perfect workspace, everything has to have a purpose, and it has to be maximized.
The Canva vibe lead acknowledges that, in recent times, Gen Zs are prone to bidding their farewells to their employers within a span of two to three quarters of the year. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but a bold move, as Chardy pointed out that there are things companies can learn from job-hoppers.
“I really admire the mindset of Gen Zs. They’re asking the questions that everyone needs to hear. Questions like ‘Am I learning?’ ‘Am I growing?’ ‘Is this the workplace I want to stay [in] to harness the skillset that I have?’” he elaborated.
To address this, Canva shapes itself to cater not only to its clients and end-users but also to its workers.
Luckily, the company is not one to gatekeep these strategies, as they encourage other businesses to step up and bring in more benefits to their employees in order to reap better output.
Keeping up with the times
An important factor in improving productivity in the workplace is catering to the needs of the people behind the scenes. With the government encouraging businesses to shift 50 percent of their workforce to a remote setup, it’s no doubt Canva has gotten on board with this.
For Yabut, the rise of various work modalities is a positive change that emerged during the pandemic, as it gave a more empathetic perspective of work.
Canva Philippines does not have a specific schedule for when employees get to work in the office; instead, they are given freedom as to when they can maximize the office space as much as they can—as long as it gets the job done.
“The underlying tone above it all is that we make sure that all of the programs and experiences we do in Canva [are] anchored in inclusivity,” Yabut added, citing initiatives such as career programs, parental leaves, pride and women collectives, among others.
“We give our employees the autonomy to shape up their schedule, their personal lives [based on] how it will best fit and resonate with them, rather than making them have a rigid structure… We really value output from our team and wanted to somehow encourage creativity for them.”
Those who are working remote are not left behind either, as the company ensures that everyone is part of team-based activities and programs, such as their general assemblies, important cluster meetings which can be held both in a designated room or via video conference.
“We make sure that they feel celebrated but at the same time, it should be hybrid or remote because everyone’s set-up is different,” Yabut stated.
Aside from adjusting with the digital times, Canva is also no stranger to the growing developments in artificial intelligence (AI). Through its newly integrated “Magic Design,” users can utilize AI tools in their various graphic design needs.
What would this mean for Canva as an art-based platform? Yabut clarified that its AI integration is not a takeover, but rather to be served as guidance.
“We really view AI as a tool that will help us somehow make our work more efficient. We’re empowered to cut time instead of working hours [on] a certain task. It helps us shorten it so that we have free time to allocate our skill set and resources to something more impactful and meaningful,” he elaborated.
He also shared that some of their in-house designers do not stray away from AI completely, as some are free to seek the tool for inspiration on their work.
“AI really helps them somehow put into visuals or decode the things that are in their brain… We always remind the team that there should always be a human touch [to their work].”
Don’t quit just yet
Understandably, the great resignation move will take time to slow down and wither among the times, but while many Gen Zs and millennials continue to search for the right job for them, Yabut still suggests not to give up right away.
“My advice is to really have an open communication; in Canva, I usually tell them to over-communicate. It’s really more [about] being transparent in terms of the feedback, but it has to be clear and kind for everyone to somehow have a 360[-degree] point of view of the things that they’re doing.”
Canva’s vibe lead believes that a business can flourish by generating constructive feedback, as he stated that, “It helps open up opportunities on what are the things that can change. So having that open communication and receiving feedback really helps gain knowledge and expertise.”
