51% of Americans Left a Job in 2020

iHire’s 2020 Talent Retention report has found that 51.1% of American employees have left their jobs in the past year. The report also notes that job dissatisfaction has risen by 7.4% from 2019. 

The report has noted despite the high unemployment rates, layoffs haven’t been the only drivers for high turnover in 2020. 

iHire Talent Retention Report 2020

Of the 51.1% of employees who left their jobs, only 26.2% left involuntarily either being laid off or terminated while 24.9% had left voluntarily.

 Other findings of the report include:

• Dissatisfaction with jobs was observed to have climbed year-over-year with 29.6% of those surveyed saying they were either ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’ with their current or most recent jobs.
• Only 18.8% admit to being ‘‘very satisfied’ with their jobs, while 31.9% feel ‘somewhat satisfied’ and 19.8% were lukewarm towards their jobs.
• Employees still do value traditional benefits and perks in the workplace. Among these include a raise or bonus (50%), a healthier work/life balance (25.7%), clear growth or advancement opportunities (25.4%), and a better benefits package (22.0%). 
• Interest in changing careers is also on the rise with 61.8% of those surveyed are considering making a major change in the coming year. Among those, 28.9% say that a change is very likely.
• A further 35.3% pondering career changers say they are reluctant to make a change due to financial risks, while 22.8% are simply unsure what type of career to pursue.

How Small Business Owners Can Retain Employees

Keeping employees for the long-term is important to the success of a business. Having staff remain in the workplace translates into the business saving time and resources needed for training new staff. 

Businesses will need to ease the concerns of employees by working on a strong employee engagement strategy. Especially more so during times of uncertainty and instability, employers should prioritize providing traditional, basic perks such as fair pay, flexible scheduling, medical insurance and workplace safety. They will also need to clearly provide a road map for their employees’ professional growth.

Image: ihire.com

This article, "51% of Americans Left a Job in 2020" was first published on Small Business Trends