It is estimated that, in today’s workforce, people will have an average of ten career changes in their lifetime. This comes as no surprise if we have paid close attention to the rapidly changing workforce and the shape it takes as technology and an infinite amount of options readily become available to use on a daily basis.
A growing number of reasons why people are choosing to change careers today have more to do with intrinsic motivations as opposed to extrinsic ones, like money and a stable safety net. Here are four specific areas that highly affect the decision for a career change in the workforce.
1. Satisfaction Levels
Increasingly, employees want to feel a sense of satisfaction from the work that they spend much of their time doing. It is no longer enough for a job to provide consistent pay and security to be leaned on with benefits.
Employees are increasingly feeling the need for more than that, and constant switches in careers is a big indicator of this.
For workplace satisfaction to exist, there are several factors that have to be present. These include trust, security, respect, a healthy environment, and benefits, among many other things.
2. Employee Experience
Gone are the days when work was considered a necessary part of life and nothing more. As society and technology advance, there is a constantly growing uprise of employees who prefer and demand more from their workplace experience.
A lack of such a connection can be additional fuel for the decision to change careers. This can encompass anything related to the emotional environment workplaces offer to the relationships formed and the allowance for expression in a safe work space.
3. The Abundance of Choice
Mobility today is easier than ever. It isn’t as hard to switch careers as it used to be, especially with the internet and rapid changes in technology.
Moreover, careers don’t have to be physical anymore, as remote jobs and contract based work is becoming more and more prevalent. When we have choices, it becomes easier to make swift career changes in the face of unsatisfactory working conditions.
4. Level of Engagement
Employee engagement is is difficult to express, but Matthew Wride of decision-wise offers this description: ‘Employee engagement is an emotional state where we feel passionate, energetic, and committed toward our work.’
Not surprisingly, all three of those factors touch on emotion driven states; passion, energy, and commitment towards something. If any given workplace isn’t able to provide an environment to employees where that could happen, then they are on the road to low employee retention rates.
As the workplace tries to play catch up with an ever-changing workforce, it is important to understand the root cause of why it’s happening in the first place. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see the rise of employee demands as wages stay the same and employers try to understand how they can cater to their workforce better.
This has made for a less one sided work and employee relationship and has leveled the playing field for the interests of both parties. What are your reasons for making a big career change? I would be willing to bet it has something to do with intrinsic dissatisfaction.