More UK workers ready to change jobs as confidence in economy grows

UK workers are feeling more confident about the state of the economy but it’s making them less inclined to stay in their current jobs, a new survey claims. According to the latest Global Talent Monitor report for the second quarter of this year, from Gartner 18.8 percent of UK employees indicated a very low intent to stay in their current role, the second highest after India (40 percent), and higher than the global average of nearly 12 percent. This is the first time since Brexit that workers reported having an optimistic outlook on the job market, and their own career growth. Nearly 40 percent of UK employees reported somewhat high to high confidence in the economy. When it comes to their personal prospects, employee perceptions have risen steadily over the last year and have increased nearly 4 percent. In fact, job opportunity perceptions in the UK are nearly 1.5 points higher than the global average. However, despite their intentions to move on from their current role, UK employees are still putting in a strong effort in their current roles, with nearly 13 percent of employees reporting a high willingness to go above and beyond in their role, and an additional 43.8 percent leaning towards high.

“The first year post-Brexit created a lot of uncertainty for employees, but as actions become more formalised, workers feel that the worst may be behind them,” said Brian Kropp, group vice president of Gartner’s HR practice.

For those workers who are looking for new roles, nearly half have ranked work-life balance as their highest priority, followed by location (38.4 percent) and stability (30.5 percent). This is a change from previous quarters when employees cited vacation, camaraderie and product or service quality as their key priorities

In order to capitalize on the current willingness of employees to consider new jobs, organizations must ensure they have a strong Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that differentiates them from the competition and speaks to what employees want most, in this case work-life balance, location and stability. Engaging employees on the attributes that they prioritize can generate big dividends – Gartner data shows that organizations with high levels of employee engagement report financial outcomes three times higher than firms with lower engagement levels.

“In today’s world, talent is a key differentiator of the organizations that succeed and those that don’t. Companies must retain their top performers while attracting new talent,” Kropp said. “Given that work-life balance is an important factor for British workers, businesses looking to attract new talent should actively promote how they enable employees to achieve work-life balance via options such as flexible working hours, telecommuting, or the use of new technology.”

Global Talent Monitor data is drawn from the larger Gartner Global Labor Market Survey which is made up of more than 22,000 employees in 40 countries. The survey is conducted quarterly and is reflective of market conditions during the quarter preceding publication.