Spending more than two years with one employer is unrealistic for a fifth of people
Job hopping is becoming a phenomenon, especially among younger students. Nearly half of people think it’s perfectly okay to find a new job after a year, and about a fifth think it’s unrealistic to stay with one company for more than two years.
Important reasons for switching jobs include frustration and boredom. So companies must work hard to motivate and engage their employees.
One of the biggest HR challenges facing companies today is not only finding qualified and talented employees, but also those who will remain in their services for a longer period of time. The days when people have stayed with one employer for the rest of their employment, or at least most of it, seem to be gone forever. Not only are people changing jobs more often, but they’re also starting to see it as a completely normal part of their careers. For example, the CV-Library advertising portal revealed in a 2017 survey that 74% of employees believe job mobility has become more socially acceptable in recent years. Of the eighteen-year-olds, nearly nine in ten share the same opinion. Moreover, about 47% of people think it is okay to change jobs after less than a year, and in the 18 to 24-year-olds the figure is 65%. Other studies show that nearly a third of employees expect to take on ten jobs in their careers, and about a fifth consider it unrealistic for employers to expect their employees to stay for more than two years.
It’s not just millennials
The phenomenon of job-shifting is most evident among the so-called millennials. For example, a CareerBuilder survey revealed that by the age of 35, a quarter of millennials will have changed jobs five times. “There are several reasons for this behavior. It is often said that millennials simply want to try as many activities as possible and improve their many competencies. In addition, it is currently relatively easy to find a new job in the country, so it often happens that young people choose, after the first one. A sign of dissatisfaction with the current state of their professions, the easiest solution: try their luck elsewhere, ”says Jiří Jemelka, a company that provides activation and temporary management for small and medium-sized enterprises.
However, despite numerous reports of millennial instability, frequent rotation of employers is not only the prerogative of the younger generations. This can be found most frequently among so-called baby boomers – for example, according to last year’s survey by the US Department of Labor, people born between 1957 and 1964 changed jobs an average of 11.7 times between the ages of 18 and 48. In fact, more than a quarter of them showed 15 or more jobs.
Frustration with work is a national problem
The dissatisfaction in the aforementioned job can in many cases be the result of frustration or boredom, two factors which also play, according to the available data, an important role in job hopping. This is evidenced by a recent study by Staples, according to which 97% of people are frustrated at work. Then a quarter admits that when they are bored, they look at job offers. Nearly nine out of ten respondents said they are considering changing jobs on a regular basis. But even if they change jobs later, up to 37% of people in the new jobs begin to feel bored and frustrated again in less than half a year. But what is the source of this feeling? “There are many reasons again. For example, many people choose not their job based on genuine interest in the area, but on the basis of financial rewards, social standing, company or industry reputation, or because their friends work for the company. For example, they also want their work to be useful, have a purpose, preferably with a social or environmental overlap. They also want to see the true effects of their activities, but unfortunately this is rarely achieved, ”explains Jiří Jemelka, adding that distorted ideas about What a particular job position includes and requires also plays another role.
Motivate them with clear vision, results and corporate social responsibility
In light of these results, companies should anticipate that it will cost them a lot of effort to maintain a stable and long-term employee base in the future. Not only is it about offering decent profits, but above all about keeping your employees motivated and engaged. For example, a clear vision and mission for the company, which will be well communicated internally, focusing on the tangible results and impacts of the company’s activities, or the adoption and building of the Socially Responsible Company (CSR) principles, which will ensure the said social and environmental overlap. Last but not least, it is important for an employer to be able to properly reward their employees – not just financially – and provide them with quality opportunities for developing their skills and career growth.
