As business owners look over their employee benefit offerings for 2014, many of the workers that they're covering now may no longer be with them before the year's out, as new polling data suggests that a considerable number of workers are on the move.
The survey, which was performed by Harris Interactive on behalf of job search website CareerBuilder, found that roughly one in five workers intend to change their jobs at some point in 2014. This marks a record-high level since the Chicago, Ill.-based employment locator and recruitment firm began tracking it, and is up from 17 percent in 2013.
Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, noted that this is not necessarily a fait accompli, though, as business owners can make their protestations known by making generous benefit packages available.
"Offering frequent recognition, merit bonuses, training programs and clearly defined career paths are important ways to show workers what they mean to the company," said Haefner. "In general, however, when more workers change jobs it's usually a sign the labor market is warming up."
She added that during the height of the recession, turnover was low for most employers, mainly because workers were hesitant to leave one position due to fear that they wouldn't be able to find another one.
At the same time, though, just under 80 percent of respondents said that they have no desire to leave their jobs this year. Some of the top reasons why, according to the poll, included enjoying their co-workers, having good benefits, a speedy commute and establishing a good work-life balance.
While working for multiple employer may be common, there comes a point at which so-called "job hopping" may raise eyebrows. In a separate survey performed by Robert Half, human resources managers polled said that having five jobs in a 10-year period was too much.
