Two fifths of Canadian employees who are satisfied with their organizations and 51% of those satisfied with their career opportunities are looking to leave, a survey finds.
Mercer’s Inside Employees’ Minds survey also finds that 35% of all workers—regardless of job satisfaction level—are seriously considering leaving their organizations. This number jumps to 40% when looking only at workers in the private sector.
“The survey confirms what employers have been seeing first-hand—a workforce in transition and, increasingly, one on the move,” says Graham Dodd, North American regional practice leader, talent strategies at Mercer. “The new twist is that the inclination to leave is increasingly detached from employees’ satisfaction with jobs, pay, and even growth opportunities.”
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The survey also finds that those employees who are considering leaving include:
- 33% of those who rate their benefits packages as very good;
- 42% of those who strongly agree that they have sufficient opportunity for growth and development in their organization; and
- 41% of those who strongly agree they are paid fairly given their performance and contributions to their organization.
The findings are more pronounced for various demographic groups within the workforce. For example, 67%of senior managers surveyed are seriously considering leaving their current roles, compared to 45% of management-level employees and 30% of non-management workers.
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Drivers of the paradox
As the younger generations of workers—X, Y (millennials) and the incoming Z—comprise a larger percentage of the overall workforce, their preferences and behaviors are influencing larger trends more strongly than in years past.
Examples are millennials’ well-documented preferences for increased job mobility and accelerated career paths. Mercer’s new survey reflects these trends, noting that 44% of workers age 18 to 34 are seriously considering leaving their organization, compared to 35% for the overall Canadian workforce, despite the fact that they are generally more positive about many aspects of work.
In addition, while Canadian workers of all ages rank base pay as the most important element of the employment deal (out of 13 elements considered), the value they place on other elements of the deal varies by age.
“The future of successful work relationships between employer and employee will depend on the trifecta of health, wealth and career—and how you make them all portable to reflect the way people want to work today and what they are looking for in the employment relationship,” he adds.
More than 1,000 Canadian workers, 18 years or older, never retired, working full time or part time at for-profit and public sector organizations participated in the survey.
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