Half of UK workers are actively looking for a new role or are planning to seek new job opportunities in the next six months, according to research that finds the ‘great resignation’ was not a short-lived phenomenon.
The survey of 2,145 white collar professionals in the UK, conducted by FTSE 250 recruiter PageGroup, also found a further 36% were not ruling out looking for a new job, but were waiting until the economy improves or for the right opportunity to arise.
Only one in 10 employees were confident they would remain in their current role this year.
Even new joiners were open to a new role should the opportunity arise, the survey found. More than a third who started their job in 2022 considered themselves active job seekers.
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“There’s a lot of fog and ambiguity around what’s going on in the market at the moment, which is why we wanted to go straight to the source and find out what’s making both workers and employers tick. Herein lies the new normal for employers: happy workers are still liable to leave if a better opportunity comes along,” warned Doug Rode, managing director UK and Ireland for Michael Page, a PageGroup subsidiary.
“After the disruption of the pandemic, the workforce’s collective emotional connection to the world of work has fundamentally shifted. Many professionals are adopting a more ‘transactional’ view of their jobs, putting their own value first.”
PageGroup CEO Nicholas Kirk said the trends seen in the UK mirror those experienced globally.
“It is clear there has been a universal reset of people’s relationships with their jobs. Work-life balance, a competitive salary, and strong career progression prospects have become non-negotiable, and professionals are willing to leave their current roles to secure these elsewhere,” he said.
“These are not fleeting trends or reactionary responses to a period of turbulence. Rather, they are reshaping the workplace in a way that will subtly yet fundamentally change the way businesses attract and retain their talent.”
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The TalentTrends survey also found that:
- The resignation rate for 2022 was almost three-times that of 2021 (44% compared with 15%)
- Economic uncertainty has not dampened UK job seekers’ desire to change jobs, with 53% more likely to look for a job when the economy is performing poorly
- Three-quarters (76%) employees would consider work-life balance and their mental health over a successful career – a higher percentage than Europe as a whole (73%) and globally (67%) – but salary was ranked the most important part of a job for 23%
- Two-thirds of UK workers are satisfied with their current workload, 59% with their salary, and 52% with their job overall.
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