The “Great Resignation” may have been just a warm up.
New data from Microsoft and LinkedIn shows that nearly half of professionals—some 46%—say they are thinking of leaving their jobs in the next year. That’s notably higher than the 40% who confessed those same ambitions in 2021 and could come as a surprise to many employers who thought this corporate wanderlust had ended months ago.
The survey of 31,000 individuals in 31 countries should put employers on alert that, even with the economic volatility and steady inflation, workers still see themselves as being firmly in charge of their own destiny.
The reasons for the wanderlust vary. Some are finding they regret or have tired of the jobs they took during the pandemic, when workers, at one point, were clinging to any income source they could find as companies instituted mass layoffs. Others say they’re approaching burnout. Microsoft’s study found 68% of people saying they struggle with the pace and volume of work, with 46% saying they already feel burned out.
Artificial intelligence plays a role as well, with 45% saying they fear AI could replace their job.
LinkedIn’s study, meanwhile, found a 14% increase in job applications per role since last fall, with 85% of professionals considering a new job this year.
While many tech firms have had massive layoffs in the past year, workers at large aren’t too worried about it. LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence Index, released earlier this year, was near a four-year high. Some 55% of the people surveyed said they felt confident in their ability to either get or hold onto a job at the time, compared to just 36% in January 2021.
Of course, just because people are thinking about changing jobs doesn’t mean they will—or they should. A Conference Board study found that people who switched jobs in 2022 are currently less satisfied with their jobs than people who opted to stay put.