The ‘Great Resignation’ is the term used to describe the trend of employees quitting their jobs due to new goals brought about by the pandemic. We previously wrote about this trend in our ‘Work Trends for 2022’ blog. Now we can report that the Great Resignation is increasing, not slowing down. According to the latest research by Lattice, over half of UK employees are actively looking for a new job.
When do workers start looking for a new job?
Traditionally it was recommended to stay in a role for a minimum of 6-12 months, however it seems due to the Great Resignation, employees are not heeding this advice.
According to Lattice, workers who have been with their employer for less than a year are more likely to be looking for a new role. 65% of workers who have been in their current job for 3-6 months are actively looking for a new job. This increases to 67% when they have been in their role for 7-11 months.
So younger workers are more likely to be actively seeking a new role. Overall, 53% of employees are looking for a new job but this increases to 69% of Gen Z workers. This generation of workers, also known as Zoomers, is generally regarded as being aged up to mid-20’s.
What do different generations want from a job?
Older employees are more interested in a high salary, whereas younger employees are interested in more than compensation. When evaluating their current job satisfaction, compared to Gen Z, a quarter of Gen X (aged around 40-50) and Baby Boomers (aged around 50-60) were more likely to rank compensation/salary as extremely important.
A higher salary may be one reason for the Great Resignation, more so for older workers, but this doesn’t account for the higher number of younger employees wanting to quit their jobs.
So, what do younger workers want from their careers?
Compared to Baby Boomers, Gen Z was nearly 20% more likely to view opportunities for career growth and advancement as extremely important. Gen Z was also twice as likely, than any other generation, to consider company performance/reputation as important when considering quitting their job.
On the other hand, nearly half of Millennials (aged around 25-40) view opportunities for mentorship as extremely important, compared to less than 20% of Baby Boomers. Also important to Millennials is “opportunities for career advancement” with over half ranking this as extremely important compared to less than half of Gen X and Baby Boomers.
Interestingly, Gen Z and Millennials were twice as likely to view “lack of belonging” as a reason to quit their jobs compared to Baby Boomers.
How do you retain employees?
Once you’ve taken on an employee, you need to retain them in their roles as long as possible to hold onto talent and save recruitment resources. To discover retention strategies, read our blog ‘The Top 5 Staff Retention Strategies in the Current Climate’.
How will the news that the Great Resignation is increasing going to change your retention strategies and will you adapt them for different generations of workers?
The best way to make sure staff stay in their jobs as long as possible is to employ workers that are the best fit. As a recruitment agency, we really get to know our candidates and our clients’ company culture so that we can perfectly match the two.
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