Last year an unprecedented number of people quit their jobs, feeling the need to move organisations to progress their career, or achieve other personal goals following an extended period of working from home during the pandemic. As the job market improved at the fastest pace seen for many years, there were more opportunities for those wanting to move for better pay, benefits and job fulfilment.
However, according to economists and labour market analysts, the phenomenon is now over, with the number of resignations back to 2019 levels. Historically, fewer people tend to move job during economic dips so it’s not surprising that some workers are having second thoughts about quitting, especially given the cost-of-living crisis, increased number of redundancies and the threat of AI taking over jobs.
At the same time, the competitive job market has forced organisations to adopt new approaches and implement new strategies to attract, develop and retain staff, including introducing more job flexibility and a greater emphasis on employee wellbeing programmes.
According to survey data from the Conference Board, job satisfaction is now higher than it has been in nearly four decades. More than 60% of those surveyed reported being content in their job, with the cultural shift to hybrid working, work-life balance and workloads cited as the largest increases in satisfaction.
The latest statistics from the Office of National Statistics reveal a positive trend in the labour market with early estimates for July 2023 indicating that payrolled employment has increased by 97,000 employees compared with June 2023.
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