With the U.S. near full employment, employers are finding that they need to work hard not just to pursue new hires, but also to retain their current staff. In a recent article published by Industry Week, the findings of a newly-released survey conducted by the ADP Research Institute are discussed. The survey, taken in September of 2016, looked at 2,156 employees and 800 mid-sized businesses with 50 to 999 workers. Results included the following:
- 63% of employees at mid-sized companies are open to leaving for another job
- 46% of employees would consider a job change, even at their current salary or lower
- 17% of workers are actively engaged in a job search
- 27% of workers said that they had changed jobs in the past year
- Employers are generally overestimating the number of active job searchers in their ranks, but underestimated the number of passive searchers
Though wages are an important factor, benefits such as a better work-life balance and access to advancement opportunities could contribute to the incentives of workers to move to a new job. And while current pay growth levels are modest—hourly earnings adjusted for inflation rose just 0.4% in the 12 months through April—the author suggests that American workers could potentially expect higher growth in this area.
To read that article in full, see Industry Week.