Years ago, it was relatively common for workers to stay with an employer for decades, if not their entire careers. That extreme level of employee loyalty is long gone; today, a tenure of just a few years is closer to the norm.
Employee Tenure on the Decline
Employers have come to expect some degree of job hopping, and aside from the time, effort, and resources spent during the transition from one employee to the next, job hopping has pros and cons for employers. After all, they might lose workers, but they also benefit when employees of another company start looking for a new job.
When employers consider job-hopping applicants, they probably expect to see applicants moving on from essentially the same role they’re applying for—perhaps looking to move up a rung on the corporate ladder.
Employees Are Increasingly Career Shifting
But increasingly, workers are choosing to not only switch jobs but also switch careers. “Following the Great Resignation, millions of workers are shifting to new roles,” writes Alex Christian in an article for BBC Worklife.
Some do this to get better pay or have more flexibility and work/life balance, Christian says, while others hope to speed up their opportunities for advancement. Others still, though, are changing careers entirely. “According to a July 2022 global survey of nearly 2,000 workers by McKinsey & Company, 48% of those who quit their job in the past two years have moved to a different sector,” he writes.
Workers may decide to leave industries for a variety of reasons. Certainly, the global economic and social disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have been a catalyst for many. Others may be motivated by a desire to pursue a career that supports a particular set of values or the desire to make a difference. Others might simply be looking for less stress, better hours, or greater pay.
Industry-hopping workers could represent a potential labor source for employers struggling to staff their operations. But whether candidates with little to no background in the sector they’re applying to will be up to the task depends on many factors.
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Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.