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Job hopping in the post-COVID-19 era of work has become extremely common, especially among younger workers. Some parts of the world have seen a greater number of people switching jobs than others, however.
In Australia, Brisbane was revealed to be the city with the highest proportion of job hoppers, according to a study by Resume.io. In fact, 18.6 per cent of employees in the city have been with their organisation for less than a year. Adelaide followed at 18.1 per cent, and Canberra at 16.7 per cent. Sydney was way down in ninth place at 14 per cent, and Melbourne didn’t even make the list.
In comparison, the most loyal Aussie cities were also revealed, with Newcastle leading the charge, with 20.5 per cent of employees being with their organisation for over a year. Interestingly, Brisbane came in second place at 20.3 per cent, and Adelaide in third at 20 per cent.
According to Resume.io, Australia is generally a relatively loyal country to their employer, which may be a factor in keeping wages down. Now that it is a candidate’s market, employees are free to choose an employer of their liking.
The term “boomerang employee” has been thrown around also, which refers to the trend of rehiring former colleagues to reduce recruitment and onboarding troubles.
“The great jobs boom is certainly happening,” said the former head of customer insights and strategy at SEEK, Elyssia Clark.
“Candidates are increasingly aware of it, and we are seeing more conversations around salary than in the past. Organisations are finding they need a really strong value proposition and must be able to clearly articulate why a candidate should join them.”
The UK saw similar proportions, with Manchester, Bristol, and Oxford listed as the top job-hopping cities, with figures of 20.9 per cent, 19.2 per cent, and 18.8 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, the most loyal cities were Preston, Peterborough, and Swindon, at 23.2 per cent, 22.4 per cent, and 22.1 per cent, respectively.
In the US, Berkeley, College Station, and Provo took the lead. Meanwhile, Rochester, Green Bay, and Anchorage were the most loyal.
Resume.io noted that job hopping has become more acceptable in the UK and US than in other parts of the world.
“If you can get two years out of someone early on in their career, you are doing pretty well,” commented Michael Butler, head of HR for Bristol-based business consultancy Radius World Wide.
Millennials are the generation that job hops the most, according to a Gallup report. Sixty per cent of Millennials are reportedly open to new job opportunities. Disengagement could be driving these results, as Gallup noted they’re also the least engaged generation.
This could be worrying, as Millennials also make up the majority of the workforce. A TeamStage study revealed that in the US, Millennials make up 35 per cent of the workforce. In five years, however, they’re expected to make up 75 per cent of the global workforce.
With these statistics in mind, it’s crucial that employers keep their workforce engaged and happy. By looking after the wellbeing of workers, employers can boost retention rates and help to not fall behind as other companies suffer from job hopping.
RELATED TERMS
Attrition is defined as the process through which workers leave a company for whatever cause (voluntarily or involuntarily), such as retirement, termination, death, or resignation.
Jack Campbell
Jack is the editor at HR Leader.
