Without clear career paths at their workplaces, employees will likely walk, according to a report published by Cornerstone People Research Lab and Lighthouse Research & Advisory Jan. 17.

Close to 3 in 4 workers surveyed said they want to know about job opportunities inside their organizations. Employees who don’t know about those opportunities are nearly three times more likely to say they wouldn’t be interested in working other jobs at the company — and would be 61% more likely to be ready to quit their current job, according to the report.

“One resounding truth stood clear: As the days of lifetime commitments to a single employer fade in the rearview mirror, employees’ desires to pivot, grow and stretch within their current companies are on the rise,” Cornerstone said in a statement about the report.

The report indicated that employees want to know what their options are and want the opportunity to explore those options. But for those options to even matter, employees must feel a strong sense of belonging to their organization, the report noted — and that often starts with managers.

But managers may still need training themselves, other reports have shown, especially if managers need to coach direct reports through a career map. While L&D investment may feel like a big ask as a recession looms, a combination of increasing recruiting costs and high turnover may make a focus on internal pathways a necessity, one MIT Technology Report noted. 

A lack of learning opportunities can create barriers to that same mobility that workers in the Cornerstone study said they wanted — something that may also disrupt retention efforts, an Eagle Hill Consulting report said.

And as a recession bears down on the U.S., employers may need to keep in mind that the talent pool will likely be small even if the economy falters. An aging workforce and changing notions of what work even looks like may keep the market tight for years to come, Glassdoor said in a recent analysis.