Survey: Majority of workers plan to job hunt in 2014

WASHINGTON – American workers aren’t just looking at the clock, they’re anxious to walk out the door.

Eighty-three percent of polled workers plan to actively look for a new gig in the new year, according to a Los Angeles Times story about a survey from Right Management.

“These numbers should signal a wake-up call for top management, when four out of five employees say they intend to look for employment elsewhere,” Scott Ahlstrand, Right Management’s head of employee engagement, said in a statement.

The online poll asked nearly 900 workers in the United States and Canada if they planned to look for a new job in 2014. The percentage of workers who intend to pursue a different position is slightly down from the year before when 86 percent responded affirmatively, according to the Los Angeles Times.

But as recently as 2009, just 60 percent of the respondents said they would pursue a new opportunity, according to the data.

“High employee dissatisfaction has a ripple effect that can hurt the bottom line, disrupt productivity and damage morale,” Ahlstrand said in the statement.

Just 5 percent of workers who responded to the survey said they intend to stay in their current positions.

2013 2012 2011 2010 2009
Yes, I intend to actively seek a new position. 83% 86% 84% 84% 60%
Maybe, so I’m networking. 9% 8% 9% 8% 21%
Not likely, but I’ve updated my resume. 3% 1% 2% 3% 6%
No, I intend to stay in current position. 5% 5% 5% 5% 13%

Source: Right Management survey

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