Will you be looking for a new job . . .

[Deleted]

now that the economy is recovering? Do you feel appreciated by your employer? If you employ people do you think you will be losing staff?

Workers eager to job hunt as morale plunges
By Laura Petrecca, USA TODAY


Employee loyalty is at a three-year low, but many employers are precariously unaware of the morale meltdown, according to a study out today.

While frustrated workers are griping, groaning and secretly sending out résumés, employers think they are just as loyal as they were three years ago, MetLife reports in its 9th Annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends.

"Businesses are understandably focused on expenses," says Ronald Leopold, vice president of MetLife's U.S. business. "But they're taking their eye off the ball with human capital issues, notably what drives employee satisfaction and loyalty."

Morale fell — and stress levels skyrocketed — as cost-cutting employers froze wages, slashed bonuses and asked workers to assume the duties of laid-off colleagues during the downturn. Four in 10 employees say a heavy workload, unrealistic job expectations and long hours have created stress, reports a study by the American Psychological Association.

Fed-up workers are seeking greener professional pastures: Slightly more than one in three hope to find a new job in the next 12 months, according to the MetLife survey, conducted late last year.

"Employees are starting to sniff out the possibility of an economic recovery, and they're getting antsy," Leopold says. "In the past, they were happy to keep their head down in the 'We are just lucky to have a job' economy."

Four in 10 of self-employed, full-time and part-time workers believe it's "likely" they'll find a job that matches their experience and salary in the next six months, according to a survey by career website Glassdoor.com, to be released Tuesday. That's the highest confidence level in six quarters.

That impending exodus could wallop employers who have to pay for recruiting and training replacements, as well as deal with lost productivity as they seek personnel. More than half of employers say they've had difficulty attracting employees with critical skills, according to a recent survey by employer consulting firm Towers Watson.

Partly as a result, top performers can expect merit-based pay raises averaging 3% this year, Towers Watson found. That beats the 2010 average of 2.7%, but it was 3.5% before the recession.

Resignations could fall if bosses take on low-cost actions such as offering career advancement advice and thanking deserving workers, says Kevin Sheridan, chief engagement officer at consultant HR Solutions.

Employees "want to know that they're reporting to someone who cares about them as a person and cares about their engagement level," he says.

[zibazinski]

DS has an interview tomorrow and hopes to be able to say "take this job and shove it." No raises, longer hours including weekends, and no benefits.

[zibazinski]

Plus, an A-HOLE for a boss.

[midjd]

I will not be looking for a new job, but I know several who will, for the precise reasons stated in the article.

Actually, my FIL quit his job about 3 weeks ago and went back to logging (he had his own business until 2008 or so, construction tanked so he had to get a "real" job). He is like a different person, I don't think anyone, including FIL, realized how much his job was draining and depressing him.

Hopefully everyone finds their job changes to be as beneficial as FIL did - including your DS, zib!

[Deleted]

We are both happy with our current jobs, so the answer is no.

But we do have a few friends that are looking currently.

[mtshastawriter]

I'm looking to add to my freelance client list. I do technical writing for a company who is a bit flaky, so I am looking around for other eggs to add to my basket. Looking for work locally is pointless unless I want a McJob for minimum wage. Jobs are few and far between here.

[hcj]

I do think it's getting time for a new job for me. I'm just not making the kind of money I expected and the better things get business wise, the more they cut my territory so I just can't make the kind of money I should be. I'm still not making what I did prior to this job. Unless they make some changes to my comp plan, for the sake of our future, I've really got to get off my arse and get a new job.

[raeoflyte]

DH is looking. His job keeps making promises and then saying, oh sorry--we'll make it happen soon...

I'm undecided. My job has been good to me, but I haven't gotten a raise in 6 years. I really don't want to be at the same income in another 6 years...

[schildi]

I am happy with work, so no.

[strider]

I'm looking but only because I know layoffs are coming in July. I am not biting yet though because my current job is still better than every job I've looked at so far.

[cronewitch]

I hope to never look for a job again. I want to retire in about 2 years and they treat me extra nice, easy work, nice people but no pay raises for 2.5 years. I really don't care much but officers got raises and nobody else so maybe soon.

[azphx1972]

No. I've been fortunate to have a job that I like and pays well, including annual raises through the economical downturn. I keep getting offers for more money via LinkedIn, but I'm happy with my quality of life so I'm planning to stay put unless my company decides to relocate.

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

DS has an interview tomorrow and hopes to be able to say "take this job and shove it." No raises, longer hours including weekends, and no benefits.

I can relate to this. Late last summer I was interviewing and one job looked very promising. I was planning my exit, which would be a two week notice. Interestingly enough, I had about seven vacation days, and the other guy in my group was out for about 3-4 days on vacation.

[zibazinski]

His interveiw is today and he is psyched. Everyone keep fingers crossed, please!!!! His boss will croak because who is he going to treat like crap anymore? Most adults won't take that abuse.

[telephus44]

DH is being actively recruited for contract work at almost 50% higher pay rate than he currently makes. He's currently applying internally for a new position, and if that doesn't work, he'll probably go the contractor route.

Myself, I like my job, but I haven't had a raise or review in 4 years. I plan on making my case this summer (I was going to try for next month, but I have made a few mistakes in the past 2 weeks, I know around here there's a lot of short-term memory) for a raise. If not, I'll keep looking. My problem is that I'm almost at the top of the pay grade for what I do, so I'd need to look for a job in a different field. I have transferable skills, but I think it's still hard to break into a new position.

[NancysSummerSip]

Yes, I am actively looking. I do a lot of freelance writing, and also looking to add to that client list. Like Mtshasta, I know that freelance is never a sure thing. You always have to keep your eyes open in case a client flakes on you.

[Epiphany]

Mar 29, 2011 22:16:56 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

I'm undecided. My job has been good to me, but I haven't gotten a raise in 6 years. I really don't want to be at the same income in another 6 years...

Exactly the same for me

[Epiphany]

on the bright side: DH's company did the cut 401k match, no raises for two years, etc. and he was pretty unhappy. A couple people at his work left and created their own company. They hired a few more away recently and are doing really well. DH thought he'd really want to go there too. BUT the people who have left are worked to death at the new place and travel all the time. One already quit cause of the stress. On the flipside, DH just got an excellent raise, they re-instated 401k match and it is looking very good. So sometimes it pays to stay put.

[jkapp]

Not currently, as I am ok with my job so far. It's getting more stressful but that's because some of the automation we were suppose to receive never happened.

What I've found from myself and others switching jobs for stress reasons, though, is that the next job may be just as stressful. Or you end up switching one form of stress for another. I'm still looking for that high paying, low stress job but I'm beginning to think it's just a myth

[souldoubt]

No. I've got a job that I like a lot, work for a great company/boss and I'm working on a promotion by the end of the year. That said I can see why some people may be considering it and if I were in a situation I didn't enjoy I'd definitely be in their shoes.

[jeffreymo]

I'm not looking. A perfect situation with a large salary increase would have to land in my lap for me to consider leaving my employer at this moment. This could be different in a year or two, but right now I have a great boss, a fair wage, and my office is in a perfect location.

My wife is a Manager and she's finding that the number of quality applicants is decreasing, and some folks are leaving for more money in the same industry, so it seems that salaries are trending upward - at least in that industry.

[Firebird]

I can't understand how so many companies could be so shortsighted. Did they think the economy was never going to recover? Anyone with half a brain could have seen the logical progression of this crazy train.

1. Economy tanks.

2. BadCompany: Goody, lots of awesome employees are being dumped and, since they're desperate, we can pay them way less than they're worth and get more work out of them than normal.

3. GoodCompany: Goody, lots of awesome employees are being dumped and they might take a look at our company when they wouldn't have before. Let's take this opportunity to treat them well and improve our base level of talent.

4. GoodCompany improves; BadCompany stays stable.

5. Economy improves.

6. BadCompany loses talent to GoodCompany.

7. GoodCompany continues to improve, both because of the influx of talent from BadCompany and because it retains its former talent.

8. BadCompany does badly.

[ziyia]

I'm starting a new job at the end of April. After several years of no raises, last year we were asked to take a 10% cut, and the company stopped matching 401k. At the same time I took on new responsibilities - more work, more travel, more weekends. When they "revamped" my compensation plan earlier this year, which would have essentially resulted in a further pay cut, I'd had enough.
I admit to somewhat enjoying watching them scramble as they realize how much trouble they're going to have covering all of my responsibilities.

[The J]

Not at this time. I like my job, my coworkers and my compensation is acceptable. I am improving my skill set, however, in case things change in the future.

[raeoflyte]

I don't think most businesses are actively out trying to screw their employees (at least I hope not), but I do think that when they are struggling in this economy that they may make some short sighted decisions.

DH has been asking to cut back to 3 nights per week for over a year. (He had always worked 3 nights a week and agreed to take on a 4th to help coverage--but was clear in expectations that he couldn't keep it up long term). Management says they understand, and they're sorry, and they are doing the best they can, but every issue that comes up means that he can't cut that 4th night. They've given him 3 dates saying that would be the last week of it, but come back a few days prior and say it won't work out. It's wreaked havoc on our daycare situation and affects my job as well.

It's frustrating that it is going to come down to him quitting, all because they can't afford for him to cut 1 shift out.

[Anne_in_VA]

No I won't - I have a job I love, good boss, and make pretty good money for what I do. I've gotten several raises in the past couple of years and a bonus each year too.

I do know a few people who are looking though. Bad bosses, no raises or a cut in pay while the bosses don't have to take a pay cut. Did they think their employees don't know what's happening?

[973beachbum]

DH is being actively recruited for contract work at almost 50% higher pay rate than he currently makes. He's currently applying internally for a new position, and if that doesn't work, he'll probably go the contractor route.

We have done the 1099/self employed route off and on numerous times and IMO 50% more isn't enough to even consider it.

Run the numbers yourself in a Turbo Tax type thing to make sure. But for us the self employment taxes were way too onerous to even consider it for less than double the salary. And that is assuming that he will continue to be covered under your health insurance for no additional costs.

Just my 2 cents.

[Firebird]

I don't think most businesses are actively out trying to screw their employees (at least I hope not), but I do think that when they are struggling in this economy that they may make some short sighted decisions.

At my job they're definitely not. I love my current company, and I was exceptionally lucky to find them. They treat all of their employees very well. But I've heard horror stories about employees expected to work extra hours for no overtime, to cover laid-off coworkers' former duties in addition to their own for no additional pay, no raises or bonuses even after the economy started to turn around, lowball salary offers, and so forth.

I really wonder how much of it is the fault of the companies for seeing what they can get away with and how much of it is the fault of job-seekers who refuse to demand what they're worth. I'm sure it's a mixture.

[sil]

My employer has been really good to me, although the work is piling up. At my last review, my sup told me that I'm up for promotion this year, which I really appreciate.

On the other hand, I suspect that I will reach end-game for my current projects in 2012, and our whole company is starting to pile project managers into a general resouce pool, so unless my department gets to keep me for future projects, my next assignment will most likely be random.

So I'm going to start looking for a new job before I get dumped into a general resource pool, just in case I hate my next assignment.

[souldoubt]

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