Twenty Percent of Workers Plan to Switch Careers/Fields in the Next Two Years
Recent improvements in the economy may have some workers preparing to move to a new job in the new year, with nearly one-in-five workers (19 percent) reporting they plan to leave their current job in 2010 to find a new one.
Nine percent said they plan to leave in 2011. This is according to CareerBuilder’s latest survey conducted between Nov. 5 and Nov. 23, 2009, among more than 5,200 workers.
Many employers were forced to make some tough business decisions in 2009, and may be pushing workers to make some difficult decisions as well.
One-in-ten workers (12 percent) whose companies cut benefits or perks said they would stay at their current jobs for six months or less, while 27 percent of workers who did not receive a raise or promotion in 2009 said they would leave their current positions in less than a year if they did not receive either.
Nearly one-in-five (18 percent) workers who experienced pay cuts said they are willing to stay at their current jobs for only six months or less.
“Many of the decisions employers made last year were designed to preserve the health of their businesses and many survived because of them,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.
“In some cases, workers were affected by the cost cutting measures and job satisfaction levels suffered. For example, 61 percent of employees said they were satisfied at their jobs last year – down from 70 percent in 2008.
Employers should take workers’ pulses early on in the new year. That way, they can be aware of the issues that may affect their staff’s performance, retention rates and overall happiness on the job in the coming months.”
Looking at the key factors that influence job satisfaction and company loyalty, workers reported the following:
Pay – Fifty-seven percent of workers did not receive a raise last year, up sharply from 35 percent in 2008. Of those that did receive raises, 28 percent were given an increase of 3 percent or less. Seventy-one percent of workers did not receive a bonus.
To help make ends meet in 2009, 8 percent of workers took on a second job. Nearly one-in-five (19 percent) plan to find a second job in 2010 to supplement their main paycheck.
Career Advancement – Twenty-eight percent of workers are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the career advancement opportunities provided by their current employers. Ninety percent of workers did not receive a promotion in 2009, while nearly a quarter (23 percent) felt that they were overlooked.
Switching Industries – Twenty percent of workers said they plan to switch careers/fields in the next two years. The top reasons for switching careers include wanting to pursue a more interesting line of work (67 percent), higher pay (54 percent), more career advancement (41 percent) and increased stability (36 percent).
To learn new skills, 12 percent said they would head back to school to make themselves more marketable in the new year.
Work/Life Balance – Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) of workers said they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their work/life balance. This is up from 18 percent who said the same last year.
Training/Learning – Twenty-six percent of workers are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with training and learning opportunities provided by their current employers.
Leadership Ratings – Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of workers rate their corporate leaders as poor as very poor. Workers cited an inability to address employee morale (35 percent), not enough transparency (30 percent) and major changes are made without warning (28 percent) as their main concerns with senior leadership.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 5,231 U.S. workers (employed full-time; not self-employed; non-government) ages 18 and over between Nov. 5 and Nov. 23, 2009 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions).
With a pure probability sample of 5,231 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.35 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.
About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset – their people. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 23 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 32 million resumes.
CareerBuilder works with the world’s top employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and data analysis.
More than 9,000 Web sites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder’s proprietary job search technology on their career sites.
Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia.
For more information, please visit careerbuilder.com.
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