Workers are itchin’ to job-hop – Many employees eager for change

Workers burned out by productivity demands and paltry raises are poised to start quitting once the economy turns around, new research reports.

Stephanie Armour
USA Today

The only problem is that the end of the recession hasn’t brought new jobs. The August unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 6.1 percent. Employers, such as Levi Strauss, International Paper and 3Com, still are cutting workers.

Who’s feeling the strain:

• High performers. High performers are 32 percent more likely than lower performers to say they’ll be looking for a job in the next year. That’s because many of them feel underrewarded and underappreciated, according to the survey of more than 1,100 full-time employees by New York-based Sibson Consulting.

"Top performers are the most unhappy," says Gerald Ledford, senior vice president in Sibson’s Los Angeles office. "People can’t leave when unemployment is higher. There’s pent-up demand to leave."

• Managers. Nearly half of middle managers are looking for another job or plan to do so when the economy recovers, based on a new survey by management consulting and technology services firm Accenture. Of those looking, about two-thirds plan to intensify their searches when the job market strengthens.

That’s a sign that middle managers, often the most critical players to a company, are feeling burdened by the extra work demands wrought by mounting competitive pressures.

Others feeling trapped by the economy include workers who say their current employers are falling short.

Of those responding, 53 percent say they are unhappy with the pay, up from 44 percent in 2002, according to a poll by CareerBuilder.com. Also, 45 percent are unhappy with opportunities for career advancement, up from 36 percent in 2002.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0915jobhop15.html