More people want to switch jobs now than in 'Great Resignation': PwC survey

More employees globally want to switch jobs in the next 12 months compared to during the "Great Resignation" period of 2022, a survey released by PwC Global has found.

According to the consultancy's '2024 Hopes and Fears' survey, 28 per cent of workers said they are "extremely or very likely" to change their employers. This was 26 per cent in 2023 and 19 per cent in 2022. The findings were based on a survey of more than 56,000 workers in 50 countries.

"Our survey suggests job satisfaction has ticked up slightly from last year: 60 per cent of employees say they're very or moderately satisfied, compared with 56 per cent who said so last year," it said.

"But job satisfaction doesn't necessarily mean employees will remain with their employer, and it appears much of the workforce is eyeing other opportunities. More employees say they're likely to change employers in the next 12 months than even during the 'Great Resignation' of 2022."

The "Great Resignation" was a period of high job turnover due to better opportunities. According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 47 million people quit in 2021 and 50 million more in 2022. This exodus was said to have slowed down in 2023.

The PwC survey said that 45 per cent of workers feel their workload has "significantly" increased in the last 12 months. Around 53 per cent said that there is "too much change happening all at once". As many as 62 per cent of those surveyed said that they have experienced "more change in the last year than I did in the 12 months prior".

"One-third of workers say they've experienced four or more significant changes at work in the last year, including their team structures and daily job responsibilities," the survey said.

"Leaders must support their workforce in new ways even as they accelerate change as the business evolves."

The survey also said that Generative AI (GenAI) is expected to bring fundamental changes to the workplace. More than 80 per cent of workers who use GenAI daily said they expected it to make their time at work more efficient in the next 12 months.

However, the widespread use of GenAI in the workplace hasn't yet caught on. Although 61 per cent of workers say they’ve used GenAI at work at least once in the past 12 months, fewer are using it on a daily (12 per cent) or even weekly (16 per cent) basis.