Twenty-three percent of American employees say they plan to find new jobs during 2022, while 9% have already accepted an offer for the new year. A survey by ResumeBuilder also found that 61% expect to leave their current positions during the first half. Of those, 26% said they’ll make their move by the end of March.
Turnover will be higher among employees in the retail and food and hospitality industries, the survey said. Thirty-one percent of retail personnel and 26% of food and hospitality employees intend to find new jobs this year. In addition, employers in the education, office and administrative support, and business and finance industries can expect a quarter of their workforce to switch jobs in 2022.
Individuals who work from home are the most likely to look for a new job – 24% of remote employees indicated they’ll seek to change jobs. By comparison, 23% of fully in-person workers, and 21% of those with hybrid work arrangements, will look for new employment in 2022, the report said.
Why Should They Leave?
Feelings of wanderlust aren’t exclusive to staff-level employees. Middle managers plan to quit at a higher rate than other workers, the survey found. Some 26% of mid-level managers said they’re already looking for new jobs. Meanwhile, 23% of non-management employees and 17% of senior management staff plan to pursue new job opportunities. Nearly a third, 32%, of respondents said they’re looking for work in different industries.
Half of the respondents said they’re quitting to find jobs with better pay and benefits. On the other hand, 42% will leave their current roles for jobs they’re more passionate about. Thirty-two percent of respondents also cited poor working conditions as a reason for leaving.
Carolyn Kleiman, a career strategist, told ResumeBuilder that employees often wait for the end of the year, and its accompanying bonuses, to switch jobs. At the same time, she noted, “as the pandemic continues, people continue to evaluate their lives, and work is a large part of that.”
In November 2021, the latest month with numbers available, 4.5 million people quit their jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That pushed the quit rate to 3%, matching the high reported in September.
Image: iStock
