Gartner Survey Shows More Than Half of U.S. Employees Intend to Stay in Current Jobs

Nearly 53% of U.S. workers expressed a high intent to remain with their current employer in 4Q19 — more than 13% higher than the global average of 39%, according to Gartner, Inc.

The latest data from Gartner’s 4Q19 Global Talent Monitor Report shows that for the first time, the U.S. workforce ranked No. 1 across the 40 countries and regions surveyed with the highest level of intent to remain with their current employers.

In addition to more workers staying put, only 13.5% of U.S. workers actively sought new employment during 4Q19, well below the global average of 20.8%. This also represents a significant decrease from the start of 2019; in 1Q19, 24.7% of U.S. workers actively sought new positions.

“As the U.S. labor market remains highly competitive with an unemployment rate under 4%, companies looking for talent to fill open positions are finding that workers are staying with their employers and not actively seeking new positions,” said Brian Kropp, chief of research for the Gartner HR practice. “That said, the disruption organizations are currently facing due to COVID-19 is likely to affect the labor market, including intent to stay, job seeking and business confidence.”

Other notable trendlines from the last three quarters of Gartner’s Global Talent Monitor report (2Q19 through 4Q19) include:

• Employee business confidence levels have decreased each quarter — from an indexed score of 56.2 in 2Q19 to 55.6 in 3Q19, and 54.7 in 4Q19.
• The percentage of U.S. workers actively seeking a job continued to remain well under the global average of more than 20% — 12.5% in 2Q19, 14.9% in 3Q19, and 13.5% in 4Q19.
• More than 20% of U.S. workers reported high discretionary effort (going above and beyond their regular duties) for all three quarters, marking the first time since 1Q16 through 3Q16 that this metric remained above 20% across three consecutive quarters.

Workers Want More Than Compensation

Gartner data shows that compensation continues to rank as the top priority for U.S. employees when they are considering a new job as well as being the No. 1 reason why they leave an employer. However, the tide may start to shift as employees increasingly want their employers to take public positions on societal issues, whether they are directly relevant to their business or not. Gartner research reveals that when companies do take a particular stand on an issue, employees often respond by going above and beyond in their jobs, a key component of employee engagement.

“We’re seeing a shift in what employees want out of their employers — it’s no longer all about money or the need to get ahead,” said Mr. Kropp. “As more companies view their employees as stakeholders, employees are now looking for a mission and purpose within their jobs and their employer, and they expect companies to help address particular societal issues and challenges.”

Workplace Strategies to Attract Talent

With more employees content to remain at their current jobs, companies need to create programs that define and enhance employee engagement initiatives to not only retain these workers but attract new talent.

By developing a strong Employee Value Proposition (EVP), companies have the opportunity to clearly differentiate themselves within the labor market by highlighting what matters most to candidates, such as compensation and benefits, future career development, work-life balance and corporate culture.

“Talent is the single biggest differentiator for any organization and senior leaders now than more ever understand the competitive advantage they can gain by attracting and retaining the right people,” added Mr. Kropp. “By developing a compelling EVP that reflects an authentic investment in the workforce and offers a true representation of their corporate culture, companies can increase employee engagement for current employees and reach deeper into the labor market when recruiting.”

Global Talent Monitor data is drawn from the larger the Gartner Global Labor Market Survey that is sourced from more than 40,000 employees in 40 countries and regions. Conducted quarterly, the survey reflects market conditions during the quarter preceding publication.

About Gartner ReimagineHR

Gartner experts will provide additional analysis on HR trends at the Gartner ReimagineHR Conference taking place August 17-18 in Sydney, September 21-22 in London and October 26-28 in Orlando. Follow news and updates from the conferences using #GartnerHR.

About the Gartner HR Practice

The Gartner HR practice brings together the best relevant content approaches across Gartner to offer individual decision makers strategic business advice on the mission-critical priorities that cut across the HR function. Additional information is available at http://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/human-resources-leaders. Follow news and updates from the Gartner HR practice on Twitter and LinkedIn using #GartnerHR.

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