In 2021—due to the COVID-19 pandemic—terms like the “Great Resignation,” the “Big Quit,” or the “Great Reshuffle” made headlines and employment news. But since then, resignation rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels and the hiring rate is the lowest since 2014. To understand how real “Big Stay” culture is, Ringover surveyed 1,049 U.S. adults on their employment plans, how these have changed, and what could make them leave their jobs.
Only 5% of respondents have been with their company for more than five years, the report finds. According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute, the median tenure of an American worker in the last 40 years is five years. However, reflecting that many workers “reshuffled” during the disruption of the pandemic—voluntarily or involuntarily—the average length of time respondents stayed in their previous job was 1.6 years. When asked how much longer they plan to stay, the average answer is 2.4 years.
The most common reason employees stay int he same job is that they find their work interesting (40.9%). Other reasons include financial stability (38.4%) and relationships with management (30.4%). Only 5% cite a lack of job opportunities as a factor, and only 9% say that changing jobs is too risky.
After the woes of the “Great Resignation,” HR teams are increasingly sensitive to staff feedback with an increased necessity to meet employee expectations. Here are the top reasons why employees are likely to stay in their jobs:
- better work-life balance (43.7%);
- company improvements (42%);
- only recently started in the role (38.6%);
- economic uncertainty (35.7%);
- can’t risk a move (27.8%); and
- being in their dream role or dream job (18.1%).
Those who are more likely to look for a new job cite a lack of career progression (40%), need for new challenges (37%), and because the company was asking for more in-person work (34.8%) as their reason for searching elsewhere.
Although eight in 10 (81.52%) Gen Z workers say they intend to stay for a year or longer, they are nearly twice as likely than average to have wandering eyes (92.3% sometimes or actively look for new opportunities).
Older respondents are both far less likely to “keep their options open” and most likely to want to keep the same job indefinitely. One in five (20%) of 44-59 year olds say they would like to stay indefinitely or indefinitely if there was career progression, rising to a quarter (25%) of 60-69 year olds.
Junior employees are most likely to actively look for new job opportunities (67.7% compared to a 46.37% average) and most likely to also look for a job within the next six months (8.6%). However, despite this, Junior employees are still likely to stay in their current role for at least two additional years.
Consistent with this, a good salary is a clear incentive to stay put. Higher earners (earning between $100,00-$149,000 annually) are twice as likely to intend to stay indefinitely (21.2%) whereas 35.8% of those earning $24,000 or less plan to leave within a year.
Despite the terms “quiet quit” and “lazy girl job” trending across social media, and 65.1% feeling less ambitious than they did two years ago, only 10.5% say they are disengaged at work. Women are more likely to report being highly engaged at work (31.2%) than men (19.9%). And whereas 62% of Gen Z women report being highly engaged at work, the most disengaged demographic is Gen Z men (with 18% reporting that they are disengaged).
