New Delhi, Mar 31 (IANS): After learning their lesson the hard way during the pandemic as millions lost jobs or were left with salary cuts, employee engagement with their jobs is currently on the rise globally and the number of workers who reported feeling invested in their jobs grew from 79 per cent to 81 per cent last year, an Adobe report said on Wednesday.

The workers who said doing their best work was more important than pay jumped by nearly 10 percentage points, according to the annual 'State of Work' report by Adobe.

The findings, mined from the surveys of 1,000 remote employees at large companies in the US in two quarters last year, reveal profound opportunity and risk for employers looking to lead in this age of digital transformation.

"While undoubtedly good news for employers, these findings come with a word of warning: Paired with this desire to make a difference at work is a need that employees have to feel valued," the report showed.

The number of those feeling unappreciated rose by 8 points, and in both the Q1 2020 and Q4 2020 studies, feeling unappreciated was the top barrier to employees feeling invested in their work.

While remote employees are more engaged and invested in their jobs, they also have higher standards.

One big reason: Digital employees know what a good customer experience feels like, and they bring those expectations to work.

"So, when technology makes their jobs harder or limits their success, they are willing to walk away. In fact, 49 per cent of respondents said they will quit a job if the technology is out of date or hard to use," the findings showed.

According to the data, Gen Xers showed major gains in confidence around communication, including conflict resolution and their ability to build and reinforce trust in a new environment.

Millennials, meanwhile, appear to be adapting at a slower pace, particularly with regard to trust. On that issue, millennials reported a 3-point drop compared to the Gen Xers' 4-point rise.

These trends suggest employers need to address both the technological needs and the "life-situation barriers" impacting individuals and teams, the report noted.