One in Four IT Workers Plan to Change Jobs in 2014, According to CareerBuilder and Sologig.com Survey

CHICAGO – With the New Year just underway, many U.S. tech workers are already resolving to find a new employer, according to a survey from CareerBuilder and Sologig.com – its job site for IT and engineering professionals. Twenty-five percent of full-time IT employees plan to change jobs in 2014, up significantly from 15 percent last year.

The national survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive© from November 6 to December 2, 2013, and included a representative sample of 240 full-time, private sector IT employees (18+) across industries and company sizes.

Job Satisfaction Falling

A drop in job satisfaction may account for the expected rise in turnover. Sixty-five percent of workers are satisfied with their jobs, down from 72 percent in 2013; 19 percent are dissatisfied, up from 12 percent last year. However, the satisfaction rate among IT employees remains higher than the average for all workers, which fell to 59 percent this year from 66 percent in 2013.

“Retention of IT workers is a perennial challenge for many companies, but the survey suggests 2014 could be a particularly active year for turnover,” said Eric Presley, chief technology officer of CareerBuilder. “In one sense, this is good news for the tech job market. When workers sense they have options, it’s a sign that job demand is healthy and wages are on the rise. On the other hand, employers will have to focus more on incentivizing their best tech talent by providing advancement or development opportunities and a workplace culture that suits their needs.”

Twenty-seven percent of IT employers report that in the past year they have been recruited by organizations without having applied for a job.

More Important than Salary

When considering a new position, some aspects of the job are more important to IT workers than salary. The following percentages reflect the share of IT workers who rank each factor above their paycheck:

· Job stability: 69 percent

· Location: 64 percent

· Good work culture: 60 percent

· Affordable benefit plans: 57 percent

· Good career advancement opportunities: 40 percent

· Ability to telecommute: 40 percent (compared to 19 percent for workers in all occupations)

· Ability to offer flexible schedules: 40 percent

· Learning opportunities: 40 percent

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 3,008 workers (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) and199 full time IT employees (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) ages 18 and over between November 6 and December 2, 2013 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability samples of 3,008 and 199, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have sampling errors of +/- 1.79 and +/- 6.95 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About Sologig.com and CareerBuilder®

Sologig is an employment website that connects experienced IT and engineering professionals and matches them with relevant opportunities. Users can also post resumes, sign up for automatic job alerts, and take advantage of job search management tools.

CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract great talent. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 24 million unique visitors and 1 million jobs. CareerBuilder works with the world’s top employers, providing everything from labor market intelligence to talent management software and other recruitment solutions. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.