Two-thirds of tech workers are open to or already actively seeking new job opportunities, a global analysis of 18,000 workers shows.
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A workforce survey conducted by Gartner in Q4 2021, which included 1,755 IT employees from 40 countries, found that only 29% of IT workers “intend” to stay with their current employer.
IT workers are more likely to leave their jobs than workers in other roles, Gartner found, with a 10.2% lower intention to stay than non-IT employees – the lowest of all corporate functions.
Less than a third of IT workers intend to stay with their current employer, but the number is even lower in Australia and New Zealand (23.6%), Asia/Pacific (19.6%) and Latin America (26.9%). Even in Europe, the best-performing region, only four in 10 IT workers intend to stay in their current job.
The results are a headache for CIOs and IT managers, who are already struggling to attract key technology staff in a tight talent market, while trying to keep their staff calm as many employees face burnout issues.
In order to retain key technology staff, CIOs may need to support greater flexibility in these departments than in the rest of the organization, said Graham Waller, an analyst at Gartner.
Waller told ZDNet that the demand for tech skills, the growing acceptance of remote work, and the greater desire for work-life balance had shifted the balance of power from the employer to the employee.
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Young technology workers are more likely than their older colleagues to consider changing jobs, Gartner found.
The analyst's research showed that IT workers under 30 are two and a half times less likely to stay in their jobs than those over 50. Only 19.9% of IT workers aged 18 to 29 have a high probability of staying, compared to 48.1% of those aged 50 to 70.
Waller suggested that many of these younger workers were driven by a sense of purpose and a desire to work for a company that reflected their values, such as diversity, equality, and inclusion.
While staff resignations are inevitable, implementing more flexible work policies can have a proven impact on increasing performance and attracting new talent.
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In a 2021 Gartner survey of 3,000 employees across a wide range of industries, 65% of IT employees reported that flexible work arrangements influenced their decision to stay with their employer.
Information source: zdnet.com
