Workers on the Move: Nearly One-Quarter in U.S. Voluntarily Changed Jobs Last Year, According to Latest Spherion Survey
Survey Also Uncovers Top Reasons for Job Change
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., January 11, 2007 — According to the latest Spherion® Workplace Snapshot survey conducted by Harris Interactive®, 21 percent of U.S. workers made a voluntary job change in the past year, up slightly from 20 percent who did so in 2005. By comparison, Spherion data from December 2005 indicated that 37 percent of workers said they intended to look for a new job in 2006. The latest survey also uncovered the top two reasons why workers voluntarily changed jobs in the past year, with 30 percent of workers citing growth and earnings potential and 23 percent citing time and flexibility as the reason.
Additionally, the survey found that younger workers and those earning less than $15,000 were most likely to have voluntarily changed jobs last year. Approximately 36 percent of workers aged 18 to 29 voluntarily changed jobs in 2006 compared to 21 percent of workers overall, and 40 percent of workers earning less than $15,000 voluntarily changed jobs last year compared to 21 percent overall.
“These latest findings further substantiate two dramatic changes in mindset we have been tracking among today’s workers,” said John Heins, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Spherion. “First, workers clearly are not afraid of changing jobs and, in fact, do so for the primary reason of achieving growth and earnings potential. The idea that the best way to grow financially and otherwise is to stay with one employer has been eroding to the point of extinction. Workers today are loyal only to employers who provide abundant opportunities to increase both their skills and earning power.
“Second, more and more workers are demanding the ability to balance their work and personal responsibilities,” continued Heins. “Nearly one-quarter changed jobs voluntarily in order to enhance their time and flexibility. The underlying message to today’s employers is clear: you either provide employees the time and flexibility they need to achieve work/life balance, or they will find it elsewhere.”
Employers literally can’t afford to ignore these messages, advises Heins. The tangible cost of turnover ranges from $7,000 per hourly worker, to $30,000 for a mid-level, salaried employee, up to $80,000 per technical or senior management employee, according to The Center for Workforce Learning. Add to this the effects on employee recruitment and retention in an environment of serious labor shortages and the loss of any employee is exceedingly costly.
Other results from the most recent Spherion Workplace Snapshot Survey:
Number of workers who have/have not made a voluntary job change in the past year.
- 68 percent of workers did not make a voluntary job change in the past year
- 21 percent of workers did make a voluntary job change in the past year
- 11 percent were neutral
Top reasons why U.S. workers voluntarily changed jobs in the past year.
- Growth & Earnings Potential: 30 percent
- Time & Flexibility: 23 percent
- Financial Compensation: 22 percent
- Culture & Work Environment: 22 percent
- Benefits: 12 percent
- Supervisor Relationship: 10 percent
- Training & Development: 9 percent
- Management Climate: 9 percent
The top reason for voluntarily changing jobs varies according to age.
- Growth and earnings potential was the top reason given for voluntarily changing jobs by the majority of workers aged 18 to 29 and workers aged 50 to 64, at 35 percent and 39 percent respectively.
- Thirty-seven percent of workers aged 65 and older said time and flexibility was the reason they changed jobs last year.
- For workers aged 25 to 29 and 30 to 39, growth and earnings potential and culture and work environment were equally important as the top reasons for their voluntary job change last year (36 percent and 27 percent respectively).
- Workers aged 40 to 49 named time and flexibility and financial compensation as their top two reasons for changing jobs (23 percent).
Older workers and those earning higher incomes least likely to have voluntarily changed jobs last year.
- Only 15 percent of workers aged 65 and older voluntarily changed jobs in the last year.
- Only 17 percent of workers earning $50,000 or more annually reported doing so.
Methodology
The December 2006 Spherion Workplace Snapshot is based on data from the Harris Interactive® QuickQuerySM online omnibus conducted monthly by Harris Interactive on behalf of Spherion Corporation. A U.S. sample of 1,996 employed adults, aged 18 years and older, was interviewed in a poll conducted December 6-8, 2006. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, education and region were weighted where necessary to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting adjusted for respondents' propensity to be online.
With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of 1,996 U.S. employed adults one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- two percentage points. However, that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
About Spherion
Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN) is a leading recruiting and staffing company that provides integrated solutions to meet the evolving needs of companies and job candidates. As an industry pioneer for 60 years, Spherion has screened and placed millions of individuals in temporary, temp-to-hire and full-time jobs. Positions range from administrative and light industrial to a host of professions that include accounting/ finance, information technology, engineering, manufacturing, legal, human resources and sales/marketing.
With approximately 650 locations in the United States and Canada, Spherion delivers innovative workforce solutions that improve business performance. Spherion provides its services to more than 8,000 customers, from Fortune 500 companies to a wide range of small and mid-size organizations. Employing 375,000 people annually through its network, Spherion is one of North America’s largest employers. To learn more, visit www.spherion.com. For up-to-date career tips and trends, visit Spherion’s career blog, The Big TimeSM, at www.spherion.com/careerblog.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides research-driven insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what could conceivably be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiary Novatris in France and through a global network of independent market research firms. The service bureau, HISB, provides its market research industry clients with mixed-mode data collection, panel development services as well as syndicated and tracking research consultation. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.
To become a member of the Harris Poll Online, visit http://go.hpolsurveys.com/PR.
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