More and more people are wondering what their options are as they feel increasingly overworked and underpaid in the face of relentless cost pressures.
Employees feel so overwhelmed by their work that far more people are currently considering quitting than during the mass layoffs in 2022. This was the finding of the auditing firm PwC in its Global Workforce Hopes & Fears Survey published on Tuesday, which surveyed over 56,000 employees worldwide.
The report, in which nearly half of respondents were millennials, followed by Generation X and Generation Z workers, found a staggering 28% increase in the number of people planning to change jobs, compared to 19% during the major wave of layoffs in 2022.
Their reasons? Higher workloads, career ambitions and the introduction of new technologies in the workplace.
Almost half of respondents said their workload had increased “significantly” in the past 12 months. Employees are also nervous about their pay, with 43% saying they would like to ask for a pay rise. But that’s not all: 62% of employees feel the pace of change in the workplace has also accelerated over the same period, particularly as they have had to get used to new technological tools in their jobs and increased financial pressures.
In addition, employees also consider changing jobs because of their personal goals to expand their skills and advance their careers.
Overall, more employees feel more comfortable taking on a new task in the hope of finding some peace and quiet there.
“Workers around the world are increasingly placing value on long-term skills development and are looking for organizations that can help them do this,” said Carol Stubbings, head of global markets and tax and legal services at PwC UK, Assetsadding that emerging technologies such as generative AI and their application in the workplace continue to be a focus for employees.
“Ultimately, the reasons for employees to move can vary. Many of these reasons depend on their individual circumstances and the general trends they face in their region, industry and role.”
Other studies on this topic have reached similar conclusions – for example, a survey published by LinkedIn and Microsoft earlier this year A global survey of 31,000 people found that even more people are likely to quit their jobs next year than during the pandemic.
Europe and the number of dropouts who are increasingly giving up
The great resignation could removed in the USA, but Europeans have not been spared either. Countries like France and Germany are also facing dilemmas regarding their jobs, salaries and social benefits in the last few Years.
Even in the UK, more workers have considered quitting their jobs after the pandemic than during the pandemic. discontent comes at a time when interest rates and living costs are rising, causing more and more of them to look for greener pastures. It does not help that the employees also quit their jobs by resigning silently, which affects their productivity.
“It is important that leaders prioritize wellbeing as a core value and critical performance factor in their organization. Overworked and distracted employees are likely to perform less well,” the PwC report says.
These trends point to a continuation of the great resignation. The only difference? We have moved from a time of lockdowns and teleworking to a relatively “normal” time in which we still face new challenges.
AI is one of them, according to the PwC report. Such platforms can increase efficiency and are therefore invaluable for the working world of the future.
Most CEOs believe technology is driving new changes in the workplace, but very few employees regularly use generative AI-powered tools. That’s not to say they aren’t optimistic about AI, Stubbings says.
According to the study, 72 percent of respondents who use AI only occasionally believe that the technology will improve the quality of their work. Half of them even believe that it will lead to higher salaries.
The catch for employees who look elsewhere is the most of those who quit their jobs later regret their decision, the data shows.
But will that stop the growing pool of workers considering quitting? Maybe not. However, PwC suggests that managers do more to help their employees find the difficult balance between all the changes in the workplace and not feeling overwhelmed by them.
“Companies need to provide guidance and mentoring on the skills employees need to develop. It is also important to create a learning culture where providing learning opportunities is part of the organization’s DNA,” the PwC report said.