Surprise,
surprise – the UK
is not a nation of workaholics.
A
survey of 500 people by financial consultants Begbies Traynor
found that just 19 per cent admitted that they ‘live to work’.
The
other 81 per cent acknowledged that they ‘work to live’, but despite this, 98
per cent of respondents said that it was important to them to be seen to be
good at their jobs.
But
when it came to opinions about how hard their colleagues were working, 30 per
cent of respondents claimed that one in four of their colleagues were ‘serving
time’ in their jobs, rather than climbing the career ladder.
Almost
half (45 per cent) thought they should try at least three different sorts of
job before they could identify the career they would most like to continue.
Eighty-two percent of respondents felt that having worked for more than one
organisation made their contributions more valuable to their current employers.
Thirty-seven percent of respondents had worked for between three and five
employers in full-time work, and 28 per cent said they had been employed by up
to eight different organisations.
In
terms of ideal length of time in a particular role, almost a third (30 per
cent) said it was three to four years, although 16 per cent said more than five
years was ideal.
Younger
age groups displayed their itchy feet by indicating that they believe that it
is best to stay in a role for no longer two years. Older workers feel it
advisable to remain for at least three.
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