- Today, 11th January 2019, the last working day at the end of the first full week of work post-Christmas, is Career Crossroads Day, when most British workers will consider their career options, reflecting on their current job role or position
- Almost half (46%) of UK’s working population are likely to re-evaluate their career mid-January, whilst only (9%) are considering changing drinking habits after the Christmas period
- One of the main reasons for potentially leaving a job (34%) is down to low salaries, followed by (26%) who stated lack of recognition from current employers, whereas 30% said it was due to too much stress within their current role
- Act in haste, repent at leisure is true for over a third of workers (39%) who admitted ending up not improving their situation by changing jobs
‘New year, new me’, so the cliché goes, yet it seems there’s more truth to the idea of ‘out with the old’ as today[1], 11thJanuary 2019, is when most British workers consider ditching their current job, according to new research commissioned by Arden University.
Falling just over two weeks after Christmas, at the end of the first full week of work and with the next pay cheque still weeks away, Career Crossroads Day will see many disgruntled Brits wondering if they can really stick out their existing role for another 12 months.
According to Arden, a modern university offering flexible learning and courses designed to equip graduates with workplace-ready skills, some of the reasons so many of the UK’s workforce are at this career crossroads include feelings of: boredom (21%), salaries being too low (34%) and too much stress (30%), leaving many considering their futures. With just under a third (27%) reporting feeling unsupported by the current employer, and one in five (22%) feeling that a lack of flexible working opportunities is making them unhappy at work, Career Crossroads Day is a timely prompt for them to re-evaluate their career or look for a new job.
However, with the average British adult spending 42[2]hours at work each week, changing role completely is an important decision and one not to be taken lightly. Over a third of those questioned (39%) admitted that a previous job change had not improved their situation which could explain why for those who find themselves unable to progress in their current role, upskilling not quitting was an alternative option for a quarter (25%) of those questioned. The problem is that improving, instead of moving, through upskilling and re-education is being hampered by money (49%), time (35%), family pressures (20%) and a fear of failing (17%) which explains why the most popular option is to move to improve.
Victoria Stakelum, Deputy CEO of Arden University, said of the results, “For the majority of British workers today may be a day to ditch the day job and move onto pastures new, yet, as more than a third of respondents confirmed, acting in haste doesn’t always end up improving the situation. Changing jobs may not be the whole solution or certainly not without further research and upskilling first. If you’re thinking about leaving, I would say the key to a successful move would be to first assess where the skill gap, between you and your next job, lies and then working on improving your skillset before moving; otherwise, you could end up swapping one poor job situation for another.
“At Arden we can help workers upskill. We offeraccredited, career-focused qualifications, designed in partnership with employers and specifically tailored to promote the development of skills that employers commonly say graduates lack. This means our students graduate not only with up-to-date and relevant workplace knowledge and skills but also, often, having secured a promotion at work too.
Even if you’re not thinking of ditching the job, upskilling should always be a New Year’s resolution especially when you consider 85% of jobs, expected to exist in 2030, have not being invented yet[3]and a world without retirement is a real possibility; we all need to keep improving if we want to keep moving on up the career ladder or keep our jobs.”
Anyone finding themselves at a career crossroads should visit www.arden.ac.uk where they can access a tool specifically designed by Arden to help visitors work out what job might be right for them.
[1] Historically ‘new job’ scores highly on google trends for the start of the New Year, in 2018 it was Friday 12th January
[2] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20180125-1
[3] https://www.delltechnologies.com/content/dam/delltechnologies/assets/perspectives/2030/pdf/SR1940_IFTFforDellTechnologies_Human-Machine_070517_readerhigh-res.pdf
