How often Europeans change employer and for which reasons

The number of people that changed employer in Europe during 2020 remains at a low level. Of course, among other reasons the Covid-19 pandemic played its role in this procedure.

According to data, 18% of employees in Europe changed employer in 2020. Those who decided to change employer did so due to moving to a more pleasant working environment or in order to achieve better career progression.

On the other hand, 82% of employees in Europe who stayed with their employer in 2020,  did so because they had an attractive salary and benefits which did not want to lose, they had job security and a good balance between work and personal life.

Furthermore, another 25% of employees in Europe plan to change employer within 2021. These people search mainly for a more attractive salary and benefits.

Employees in Europe when asked during 2020 about the reasons they changed their job or plan to do so, 52% answered is leaving or planning to do so because of a lower salary compared to elsewhere. At the same time, 45% of employees in Europe said in 2020 that is leaving or planning to do so because of less attractive additional benefits compared to elsewhere.

The news was good for some employees who changed employer during 2020 as they managed to get a higher salary to the new company who was hired. More specifically, the salary increase was between 1% and 10%.

Those who stated in 2020 that they changed job or planned to do so, they also reported the poor relationship with manager or colleagues, the mismatch between personal and organizational values and the lack of sense of purpose.

Taking into consideration the age group that each employee belongs it turns out that 61% of the Gen X are likely to leave an employer if they receive a higher salary elsewhere, while 53% of the millennials and Gen X are likely to leave their employer if additional benefits offered by other employers are more attractive.

Also, 35% of the boomers agree that a poor relationship with their manager is a serious reason to consider working elsewhere and 44% of the boomers would leave their employer if the organizational values do not match their personal values. Lastly, 45% of the millennials may leave or have left their employer if they lack a sense of purpose in their job.

In general, an attractive salary and benefits remained the most important criteria for the majority of the European employees (59%) during 2020 when choosing an employer.

The pleasant atmosphere at work (51%) comes next and the career progression (36%) third. Diversity and inclusion, strong management, and a very good reputation of the company were the least important criteria for Europeans when they had to choose a new employer during 2020.

Female employees seem to care more about attractive salary and benefits as well as a pleasant work atmosphere than the male employees. Also, women are more caring about diversity and inclusion at a company than men. At the same time, men give greater importance to strong management in a company than women.

After all, 96% of the employers agree that alignment of personal values with a company’s culture is a key factor in their employees’ satisfaction working there.