The most common "trigger" currently causing employees to seek alternative work is limited career opportunities, and the key "driver" that turns their search from passive to active is frustration with their current employer, a recruitment industry study has found.
The Chandler Macleod Post GFC Candidate Study, which canvassed the views of nearly 1,000 members of the company's database, found that almost two thirds of those currently employed were actively looking for work.
The study then examined the key drivers causing candidates to move from merely "keeping an eye on the market" to actively searching and applying for jobs.
Frustration with a current employer was the most commonly cited driver (35%) for active searching, followed by dissatisfaction with salary (29%). "Poor leadership and vision" in an employee's current organisation and "an increased number of job ads" were equally significant drivers at 27 per cent.
Analysis by sector revealed that receiving "limited or no salary increase" would be a potential driver for many (59%) in the wholesale and retail trade industry while a disappointing bonus could provoke 11 per cent of IT professionals to begin actively searching. Some 36 per cent of those in primary industries said they were likely to actively seek new roles when job ads picked up.
The study found active and passive job seekers were motivated by "very similar triggers" to seek new employment. Some 41 per cent of candidates cited limited career opportunities as their number one reason for seeking alternative employment, followed by feeling undervalued (24%) and losing faith in their employer (18%).
Almost three quarters (72%) of candidates said they were looking for work outside their current industry and more than half (62%) were looking beyond their current speciality, causing Craig McCallum, Chandler Macleod's general manager of marketing, recruitment and consulting, to speculate that "a talent calamity" is near.
"Despite the trend of organisations returning their focus to talent and their moves to concentrate on retaining those 'stayers' who have been identified as being the right fit for the company's next strategic chapter, the early signs indicate that these efforts are not necessarily effective," said McCallum.
"In effect, evidence today suggests that the war for talent may very well be more significant than it was prior to the Global Financial Crisis," he said. "The focus today and into early 2010 should be on assessing what skills you need to gear up, for and beyond the recovery; what skills you currently have; and what talent you need to attract. Once you have it, you need to retain it."
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