Half UK workforce
hunting for new job

UK and Ireland most discontented workforces in Europe, and most
likely to look for a new job by end of the year Companies risk sustainable
recovery by losing key staff

Nearly half (47%) of the UK workforce say they plan on
looking for a new job according to research from Aon Consulting, the leading
employee benefits and risk management firm. While the UK is still faced with
fears of a double-dip recession, it seems the country’s workforce are suffering
major job dissatisfaction, with nearly one in two planning to start job hunting
by the end of the year. While it is unclear if the economic reality will enable
this to happen, employers should begin to review staff retention policies and
programmes to ensure their best staff aren’t the ones who jump ship according
to Aon.

This research is part of the Aon Consulting European
Employee Benefits Benchmark, a survey of more than 7,500 workers from across
Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain,
Switzerland and the UK, ten of the leading economies in Europe. The Benchmark
focuses on the views of workers across Europe on topics such as
retirement, employee benefits and other pension-related issues.

The Irish
are the only workforce more likely to want to swap jobs (49.4%) than the
British. Appetite for job hunting was significantly less across the rest of
Europe, with Norwegian workers closest behind the UK at 36.4% with the desire
to change employer. Job satisfaction appears to be highest in The Netherlands
and Belgium, with relatively low numbers (17.4% and 17.5% respectively) reporting
they would start job-hunting this year.

A large
number of departing employees, particularly senior team members, can throw a
company’s growth plans into disarray. On average, across Europe, nearly 20% of
workers aged 55 to 64 years old plan on looking for a new job, taking their
industry knowledge and experience with them.

Other UK
findings:

• Men (48 percent) are marginally more
  likely than women (47 percent) to look for a new job
• 18-24 year olds are most likely to
  seek a move (53 percent) while older generations are happier to sit tight
• Over half (54 percent) of those
  working in Engineering expect to actively start looking for a new job while
  just 21 percent of those working in Logistics are likely to pursue new
  opportunities by the end of the year

Countries whose employees
state they will begin the search for a new job by the end of 2010 (Percentage
of respondents who claimed they would begin job hunting by end of 2010):

1. Ireland (49.4 percent)
2. UK (47.4 percent)
3. Norway (36.4 percent)
4. Switzerland (34.8 percent)
5. Spain (34.6 percent)
6. France (32.7 percent)
7. Germany (31.9 percent)
8. Denmark (30.7 percent)
9. Belgium (17.5 percent)
10. Netherlands (17.4%)

Peter Abelskamp, executive director of health and benefits for Europe,
Middle East and Africa at Aon Consulting commented: “As a
result of the recession, many employers across Europe have introduced austerity
plans in order to lower costs and maintain profitability.  Typically,
these have included salary freezes (or even cuts) while the value of associated
benefits have seen significant reductions.  Such policies have tended to
be applied uniformly with little distinction being made between high and low
performing employees.

“Not
surprisingly, high performing employees are starting to feel unmotivated and
trapped and with a glimmer of hope for economic recovery, many such individuals
in the UK are now asking themselves whether better opportunities lie
elsewhere.  The result of this discontent is a significant hike in the
number of people intending to seek a job with a new employer.  Whether
these jobs are out there remains to be seen, but the risk to companies of
losing key personnel is definitely very real.  This could seriously
undermine an organisation’s competitive position once the recovery takes hold.

“Without
doubt, if you consider an employee to be valuable, the chances are that your
competitors will too.  Now is an ideal time to rally the troops and
incentivise talented personnel by taking a strategic look at their overall
remuneration package.  Possibilities include the introduction or redesign
of flexible benefits packages which allow employees to tailor their benefits to
their own personal needs, or by extending long term incentive plans to wider
groups of employees, including those with the most attractive skills.”

13 September 2010

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