Businesses look set to face a tough start to 2004, with more than one in four workers (28%)1 currently looking to leave their jobs, equating to 6.6 million employees.2 Such a high level of staff turnover is likely to be problematic, not to mention costly, for the companies involved. These findings emerge as part of a report commissioned on behalf of Foundation Degrees looking at levels of career satisfaction across the country and how new vocational education qualifications can help boost this.
The report highlights that almost half the workforce (47%) did not actively choose their profession but rather drifted into their current job or settled for the position after their attempt to aim higher proved unsuccessful. Indifference is a common side effect, with one in four (26%) stating that they view their current job as nothing more than a way to pay the bills. These negative feelings could lead to companies experiencing significant reductions in productivity, employee morale and customer satisfaction.
The survey shows that, worryingly for businesses, long-term apathy underlies the short-term flurry anticipated in the job market. Aside from the number of jobs they have held, the average employee has worked in three totally different sectors/careers over the course of their working life. 71% of workers actually class themselves as permanent career drifters; never destined to fulfil their career dreams, but rather drift from job to job without drive or ambition.
When asked what they considered the greatest barrier to achieving their career goals, employees cited lack of skills as the principal hurdle. The report showed this problem to be deep-rooted: 40% of the workforce considered themselves disadvantaged at the offset, with the decisions they made as youngsters making their career dreams unattainable. Current vocational education training opportunities, such as Foundation Degrees, enable individuals to overcome these hurdles, whatever their current position on the career ladder.
A spokesperson from Foundation Degrees comments: These statistics make it abundantly clear that a large number of employees are far from happy in their current working environment. This has significant knock-on effects for companies - on the one hand, an unhappy workforce leads to low productivity and low customer satisfaction, while on the other hand, high turnover can be extremely costly and disruptive.
The trend is for people to drift from one job to another, constantly dissatisfied yet lacking the skills to do what they really want. However, it may be that they donít need to move jobs to progress their careers, but rather should consider relevant training. Businesses need to recognise that encouraging employees to obtain work-related qualifications, and supporting them along the way, can be enormously beneficial to all parties. Employees attain their career goals and can stop drifting, while businesses benefit from a more stable and motivated workforce. Foundation Degrees are excellent examples of such courses - these are vocational education qualifications that can help employees gain the knowledge and skills required to make their career dreams a reality.
What the sectors say...
*The financial sector is the least satisfied, with one in two looking to move from their current job (53%). They also have the highest proportion of workers who stay put through fear of finding nothing else (one in five/17%)
*Employees in education and the health service have the highest rate of career satisfaction, with 68% and 64% respectively claiming to be in their dream job
*Retail has the most employees who actively loathe their jobs (one in twenty/5%)
*Sales and Marketing has the most employees prepared to pursue a promotion by maligning their colleagues or stealing their ideas (one in four/27%)
*The warehouse/factory workforce has the highest percentage who state that their job is just a way to pay the bills (71%)
*Civil servants are the most committed to their vocation, with the lowest number of career changes amongst them (2, 2.1 respectively)
*Those in the building trade are most likely to be career chameleons, having worked in an average of 5.1 professions
*The warehouse/factory sector has the lowest percentage of workers who actively chose it as a career (26%), meaning three-quarters of their workforce drifted into their job or fell into it after aiming for something else. The retail sector marks a close second (29%).
Businesses beware: Quarter of the Workforce set to quit their jobs in the New Year
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