Input Stories

More Americans are now looking to change jobs than at any time in the past 10 years, according to a new survey (The Wall Street Journal, subscription).

What’s going on: “White-collar hiring continues to slow, but workers’ restlessness to find new work is intensifying, new Gallup data show. More than half of 20,000 U.S. workers surveyed in November said they were watching for or actively seeking a new job.”

• It’s the biggest share since 2015, “eclipsing the so-called Great Resignation of 2021 and 2022, when millions of people quit jobs for better ones.”
• Just 18% of workers reported being “extremely satisfied” with their current jobs, down from 20% in 2023.

Why it’s happening: Job satisfaction has fallen in recent years, with “[s]maller raises and fewer promotions … spurring some of the discontent.”

• Other factors contributing to worker unhappiness: employer cost-saving measures and more requirements to be in the office.

What’s changed: “Not too long ago, those employees could act on their dissatisfaction by finding a new job with relative ease—and better pay. Now, ‘we … sit in a holding pattern,’” Gallup Workplace Research Director Ben Wigert told the Journal.

• Approximately 3 million people quit their jobs in September, approximately 500,000 fewer than in September 2023.

Why it’s important: “[E]mployee burnout rises and productivity suffers if workers feel stuck.”