Around four in 10 (43 per cent) working Canadians said they’re likely to look for a new job in the upcoming year, according to a new survey conducted by Ipsos for Randstad Canada.
The survey, which polled more than 700 Canadian employees and more than 200 employers, found the desire to switch jobs was even higher among younger people, with 62 per cent of respondents who indicated they intend to switch jobs aged 18 to 34, compared to those aged 35 to 54 who said the same (48 per cent). Respondents cited salary (30 per cent) and a full-time, work-from-home position (24 per cent) as motivating factors for why they’d leave their jobs.
Read: 65% of employees looking to change jobs due to compensation, well-being: survey
When asked whether a return-to-office could be a contributing factor for a career change, 53 per cent of respondents who are currently working remotely said they’ll be happy to return to the workplace, while 30 per cent said the opposite and 17 per cent said it would lead them to find a new job.
“What the survey tells us is that a large number of employees do not want to be tied down to their current place of employment [and] are looking for new opportunities and want to see if the grass is greener in other organizations,” said Patrick Poulin, Randstad Canada’s group president, in a press release. “This forces employers to rethink their talent attraction strategies and find creative solutions to retain their talent, now and in the long term.”
Read: Expert panel: How to get, keep top talent amid labour crunch
Meanwhile, slightly more than a third (39 per cent) of employers said the vast majority of their employees will want to continue working for them beyond next year; however, that wasn’t the case for the majority (61 per cent).
Among employers that believed they’d be able to retain their talent pool, almost half (48 per cent) said their rosy outlook was because their company is a great place to work, while others said it was due to their flexible working models (18 per cent), hybrid working models (17 per cent) and salary and benefits (17 per cent).
Read: Employers enhancing meaningful benefits offerings to attract, keep top talent
Employers who weren’t as confident said their concern was due to other jobs having better salaries/benefits offerings (26 per cent), the competitive job market (23 per cent), the prevalence of freelance work (16 per cent),or the fact that some are choosing to re-orient their careers in a new direction (14 per cent).
Notably, employer respondents were divided on how they should handle post-coronavirus pandemic work structures. Indeed, 40 per cent that currently have remote workers said they intend to have all of staff return to the office permanently, compared to the 60 per cent that said they’ll institute a hybrid working model in the future.
“As talent scarcity seems to intensify, flexibility will be a key factor in attracting and retaining talent,” said Poulin. “Job seekers have come to appreciate the productivity and balance that remote work has provided them and employers can expect that this will become a basic requirement for job seekers looking for a new employer.”
Read: Half of Canadians would leave job if flexibility isn’t extended post-pandemic: survey