Last summer, the mood among workers was one of outright rebellion. A Monster survey put the number of employees wanting to change jobs at a whopping 95%. Now, one year later, in July 2022, an APD survey shows that 93% say they are “happy in their role”. Excuse me? After two and a half years of pandemic, runaway inflation and now the spectre of a recession, the mood of workers is both volatile… and terribly difficult to understand.
How do we interpret this turn of events? First, it appears that the “greener next door” syndrome has its part to play, as we predicted in an article last summer. In a survey conducted by The Muse of 2,500 workers who changed jobs, we learned that 72% of them were “surprised” to discover that their new job was “very different” from what they had imagined. Of these, nearly half (48%) would return to their old job if given the opportunity.
In the same vein, a June Harris Poll survey found that about 20% of switchers from the past two years “regret” changing jobs. Sadly, only a quarter (26%) say they like their job enough to keep it.
Are all these workers leaving their jobs for a new one really finding one that is much better than their old one? asks entrepreneur and columnist Dominic Gagnon, in Les Affaires. Is their new employer much better than the one before? Or is it possible that Roland is taking a new job to replace Stephanie, who left that job for the same reason Roland is leaving his job?”
The Connect&GO executive blames this chair game on a pandemic that has bred “unrealistic expectations,” cultivating a narrative that “there’s always something better somewhere else – a more fulfilling role, a much higher salary, greater flexibility…” If the hypothesis is correct, a whole cohort of workers is about to hit a wall. That of the partial return to the office. And also, to a certain extent, the return to the pre-pandemic reality.
Employers… listening in spite of everything
This is a hypothesis, of course. Because, in the long run, it is not impossible that companies will really listen to their workers and make their well-being a priority. In 2021, a Willis Towers Watson survey announced that 95% of employers put “improving the employee experience” as their top organizational priority. Perhaps they will keep their promise.
Also, it’s important to know that the most important factor in changing jobs is not getting more flexibility or a better work-life balance, but making more money. That’s what 88% of those who were considering a move to a competitor said in the ADP survey.
And employers seem to be well aware of this situation; in the same survey, 27% of workers said they had received a raise “not related to their performance”. A welcome increase in these times of inflation… and possible recession!
