Half the UK workforce will look for a new job in 2016

Nearly half of the UK workforce will be looking for new jobs in 2016, with one in five workers already actively job hunting, according to new research from Investors in People.

• 49% of people are looking to move jobs as the economy improves
• Workers cite poor management and not feeling valued as reasons to move
• ‘Better pay’ drops to third place in ‘unhappiness factors’

The findings are highlighted in the report “Job Exodus Trends 2016”, which shows that one in five employees across the country are complaining of high workloads, (19%) nearly a quarter are concerned by a lack of career progression (23%) and over a quarter are unhappy with their levels of pay, (27%) prompting a potential mass exodus.

In fact, nearly a third of employees say they are miserable in their jobs due to a combination of poor management (43%) and not feeling valued (39%).

Unsatisfactory pay was the third reason as to why employees were unhappy in their current roles (38% of respondents cited this). But getting a pay rise would not solve the problem of being badly managed or feeling undervalued. Pay is important to employees but it’s clear that it’s not the only answer.

The survey asked respondents to choose between two scenarios – a 3% pay rise in line with recent UK increases, or a different non-remuneration benefit:
• a third (34%) of employees said they would prefer a more flexible approach to working hours than a 3% pay rise
• nearly a third (28%) said they would rather have a clear career progression route
• a quarter (24%) would rather their employer invested in their training and development more.

Simple actions can make all the difference. When asked what one thing their employer could do to increase their happiness in their current role, one in eight (13%) just wanted to be told ‘thank you’ more, nearly one in 10 (9%) would prefer more flexible working hours and one in 16 (6%) simply wanted more clarity on what their career progression options are.

Career progression was of particular concern to younger workers. Over a quarter (26%) of 18-24 year olds said they felt they had no clear career progression in their current role.