Study Reveals Young Workers Want a Promotion or to Leave
27 October 2014 at 10:54 am
NFPs may have difficulty holding on to young employees with a new study revealing that job loyalty is falling.
The ‘Life of a Professional’ survey by online professional network LinkedIn found that the size of the pay cheque was one of the main things keeping young people at the same workplace for more than two years.
LinkedIn is described as the world’s largest professional social media site with over 313 million members worldwide and sic million in Australia.
Their survey of more than 6000 students and young professionals found that many of them expect a promotion in their first year of employment.
More than one fifth of students and early professionals said they expect a promotion within the first year of starting a position, compared to only 10 per cent of workers with 15-plus years of experience.
Less experienced professionals also showed less loyalty to their employers, with 23 per cent of professionals with one to five years of experience saying they thought they should stay at their current position for two years before moving to another job.
In contrast, one third (33 per cent) of professionals with over 15 years of experience said they thought they should stay at their current job for at least ten years before moving on.
And it seems money is more important for young workers with 77 percent of professionals with one to five years of experience saying if they were considering leaving their current job, a pay rise would convince them to stay.
One of the reasons young workers may be keen to move on quicker than their older counterparts is the difficulty they face in finding a job in the first place.
The study found that over the last decade it has become more difficult for people to find a job after leaving university.
Only one quarter of Australian professionals with one to five years of experience said they landed a job within one month of leaving university. In contrast, the majority of professionals with over 15 years of experience said their first job was relatively easy to land, with over half (53 per cent) finding a job within one month of finishing university.
And they are also keen to start climbing the corporate ladder with the majority of people surveyed saying that getting a job is one of the most important things to do after finishing their education and only 11 per cent saying they wanted to take a year off.
But it is not all bad news for NFPs with the three most important factors in a dream job for young people being listed as happiness at work at 66 per cent, money at 39 per cent and getting along with colleagues at 38 per cent.
