The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the global job market and labor force to the likes we haven’t seen in decades, if not ever.
While the Great Resignation led to much of the labor force either pursuing different job opportunities, taking time off, or retiring earlier than planned, it also helped give employees an edge when negotiating better wages and benefits. Employee shortages across all job markets have forced employers to rethink their retention strategies and develop new methods to attract high-value job prospects browsing career pages.
The Pew Research Center has recently published a report focusing on wages for Americans. The study compares employees who chose to stay in place at their job to those who decided to pursue new job opportunities at different companies over the past year. Their findings show that “job switchers” continuously found success regarding wages, while those who stayed with their employer did not see the same positive returns.
Pew defines job switchers as:
“Workers who were employed in two consecutive months but report having changed employers. The switch may have happened voluntarily or involuntarily. Some of these workers may have been unemployed for up to four weeks in the transition from one job to the next.”
The data findings by Pew show that 60% of Americans who transferred employers saw real wage gains from April 2021 to March 2022. On the other hand, only 47% of American employees who stayed with the same employer over that period experienced real wage growth.
Also, from April 2021 to March 2022, about 50% of workers who changed jobs experienced a pay increase of 9.7% over the year prior, while employees who stayed at their same job experienced a wage decrease of 1.7%. The big question remains, will this job switching trend continue, and what does it mean for employers?
How Will Job Switcher Behavior Impact Employers?
Of course, there’s much to be learned about the state of the global economy and how inflation rates will affect job markets, but to this point, employees have more clout at the negotiating table with recruiters. To that end, what can employers do to best avoid running into the issue of hiring serial job switchers?
The Great Resignation saw many people leaving their jobs not just because they were looking for better wages but also because they were trying to better their career opportunities and find employment better suited to their tastes. Workplace flexibility, improved safety, improved wellbeing, and upskilling opportunities are some of the benefits employees were after during the Great Resignation, and there’s little reason to believe that has changed.
Of those surveyed by Pew, 32% of employees who have been at their current job a year or less said they would be looking for a new job within the next six months. On the other hand, of the employees who have been at their job between 1-10 years, 23% said they would consider looking for a new job within the next six months.
So, the data is telling us that job switchers are chasing better wages and receiving them, but those jumping jobs may not be long-vested in whichever company they land and never planned to be.
If employers can source the appropriate candidates and provide self-investment opportunities, the odds of a successful hire increase. After one year of retention, employees are less likely to switch employers. Serial job switchers may be a trend of the moment due to labor market conditions, and employees who feel that their employee wants to invest in them are less likely to hop from company to company.
Successful recruitment efforts happen when all the unique benefits, perks, and upskilling opportunities are easily presented to job seekers. Jobiak has created solutions to help employers create better visibility and highly-optimized job posts to attract employees looking for long-term job positions.
Click the link to learn more about Jobiak’s proprietary recruitment technology.
