Dive Brief:
- Jobs seekers have become more cautious due to economic uncertainty and are less likely to quit their jobs than in previous months as a result, according to a quarterly survey of some 19,000 candidates published Thursday by job search platform Joblist.
- Nearly half, 47%, of respondents said that recessionary concerns and economic uncertainty made them less likely to quit, though at least one-fourth of employed job seekers were considering switching industries or taking a second job. The share of job seekers planning to quit their jobs within the next six months sat at 36%, down from an August 2021 high of 73%, Joblist told HR Dive in an email.
- Pay is still a pain point for workers, as 53% said they had not received a raise this year. Inflation is eating into budgets, too, with 35% of workers stating that they had put more expenses on credit cards in recent months. Only 28% said they expected to receive a raise by the end of 2022.
Dive Insight:
Joblist is not the first to uncover evidence of candidate hesitancy in the current market. A Paychex and Executive Networks survey from earlier this year found that 48% of employees said they had planned to stick with their companies for the next 12 months, with higher pay and job stability ranking among the top reasons for doing so.
Such results speak to a reality that may go unrecognized by some employers: Many employees believe a recession has already arrived, threatening the gains made since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month’s Workhuman Human Workplace Index report found salary freezes and pay cuts were top concerns for workers in the organization’s sample, which may explain why 67% were “very likely” or “definitely” planning to stay with their current employers.
Those factors do not necessarily imply employers can afford to get complacent, however; per the results of a Greenhouse survey published in July, two-thirds of employees said they would look for new jobs if their pay was reduced during the next recession.
Meanwhile, the specter of a downturn has affected employer outlooks as well. Recent months have seen headlines crop up concerning the prospect that employers are “hoarding” talent in anticipation of a recession. In previous interviews with HR Dive, some observers have noted that a potential recession in the coming months would be substantially different compared to past recessions, creating an additional set of considerations for HR.
Employers also may need to take into account the fact that current employees may be dealing with difficult work conditions. Joblist found that burnout — more so than the oft-ballyhooed quiet quitting — was top of mind for survey respondents, with nearly half stating that they felt burned out at work. That could be key for employers as employees reevaluate their career choices during the pandemic moving forward.
