Head to head: In a challenging labour market, are employees staying with their employers or moving on?

A lot of people, including myself, are moving on and I think it has to do with benefits and the challenging market we’re in now.

One perk that drew me to my new agency Media Profile was the profit-sharing bonus, which is available to all employees and amounts to a percentage of your annual salary — however, it does depend on the agency’s profits that year. This benefit isn’t being offered by a lot of agencies.

Another perk I love is hybrid work — I can work in the office or I can work from home. In addition, the company reimburses my cell phone plan, reimburses employees for public transportation and my home internet is 100 per cent paid off at the six-month mark. It’s easy enough to save all of those PDFs and get that money reimbursed back in one lump sum.

Read: Canadian employees taking more ‘workcations’ to improve work-life balance

There are other great perks like extended health care, which really helps. A lot of early professionals won’t go for a massage or get their eyes checked because they don’t have any issues, but I advocate to use your benefits, especially because we’re taxed on them.

Media Profile made the news this year because of a new benefit called ‘Workaway,’ which offers employees the opportunity to spend a short period of time working from anywhere in the world. I’m using it shortly to go to Colombia for a month. The company provides a subsidy of $3,000 to support this travel. It has helped with the cost of the flight and accommodation and there’s still money left over to spend on excursions or just on groceries. And I’ll still be paid my regular salary. We also get one day off per week, so we get a chance to explore and have some flexibility while working online. I’m really excited.

These were all key things I looked at when applying for a new job.

Jordann Kaye, content marketing manager at Zolo

There’s no doubt Canada’s labour market is challenging, especially now. That said, whether to stay or move on to a new opportunity depends on various factors, which may be weighted differently, depending on your circumstances.

The effect of inflation has undoubtedly put pressure on employers to reduce hiring and delay raises. Still, at the same time, it puts even more pressure on workers. The result is many employees are jumping to another job to increase their salary enough to cope with rising costs. Unfortunately, this circumstance has become so exaggerated that it’s becoming common knowledge that the best way to increase your income meaningfully is to change jobs.

Read: Study finds remote working giving employees back 72 minutes per day

On the other hand, some jobs offer different perks and benefits, like remote work, a great culture fit or extensive benefits. For some employees, these may be more valuable than a higher salary. Employees with young families, extra caregiving demands or just complicated workplace requirements might choose to stay with an employer, even if that means not earning top dollar.

I strongly value workplace perks, which is why I love working at Zolo. The fully remote working environment (I’ve worked remotely since 2015 and can’t imagine returning to an office) and the phenomenal culture of autonomy were huge draws and are hard to find with other employers.

When it comes down to it, the choice is uniquely personal and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. For example, if an employee’s goal is to maximize their income, in many cases, they’ll likely be best served by moving on to a new employer. On the other hand, if they value non-monetary benefits, like work-life balance or remote working, moving to a new organization can be a risk since those benefits, unlike compensation, can be harder to quantify and aren’t usually laid out in a job offer.

Read: Editorial: Fulsome total rewards package imperative in challenging labour market