Rise in number of UK workers looking to leave their job, despite Brexit concerns

The ongoing uncertainty around Brexit has had little impact on both workers’ desire for job stability, and businesses’ assessments of their economic prospects according to Gartner’s latest Global Talent Monitor report. In fact, the UK reported the highest business confidence rating of all European countries surveyed at 60, and above the global average of 57. For employers this has the knock effect that the number of UK employees looking to stay in their current job has fallen sharply over the past 12 months, as 23 percent of employees indicated a low intent to stay with their current employer, a 13per cent increase from the same period last year and 10 percent higher than the current global average (13 percent). While fewer UK workers are committed to staying with their current employers, the number of workers who reported a higher willingness to go above and beyond at work remained flat.

While workers are not keen to put in more effort than they are currently, the good news for employers in the UK is that 55.4 percent of employees reporting high levels of discretionary effort also indicated a high intent to stay.

“Business leaders have a lot on their plates, but the data shows that employee retention is a much bigger challenge than perhaps expected,” said Brian Kropp, group vice president of Gartner’s HR practice. “Employers need to think about not just how they are attracting talent, but also how do they keep their best workers in-seat.”

With an increasing number of employees considering moving jobs, employers need to establish strategies to better engage their current workforce while attracting new talent. To do this, organizations need to ensure they are offering and promoting the incentives that appeal most to workers via a robust Employee Value Proposition (EVP). The data shows that UK employees ranked work-life balance, job location and stability as their top attributes when considering an employer.

“In the past, many companies wrongly assumed that a huge pay check is what matters most to workers,” Kropp said. “While being paid what employees feel is a fair amount for the work they perform is important, organizations must also consider what outside compensation matters most to employees and provide those benefits. Delivering on the whole package can increase how engaged and satisfied employees are and another firm’s ability to turn their head.”

Global Talent Monitor data is drawn from the larger Gartner Global Labor Market Survey that 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.