Dive Brief:
- Thirty-seven percent of respondents in an Aerotek survey said they left their shortest-tenured job due to “poor culture or management,” making this the leading cause of early departure found by the company. The Q1 Job Seeker Survey polled 3,500 job seekers across several industries.
- Meanwhile, fair wages, and professional development and upskilling opportunities are keeping workers longer once hired: 29% of workers said they stayed in a job due to fair pay, 28% stayed due to career advancement and 25% cited the opportunity to learn new skills.
- Skilled trades seem to be the hottest area of recruiting right now, with 55% of respondents currently working in skilled trades, 76% saying they find skilled trades appealing and 84% saying they were confident they could succeed in that field.
Dive Insight:
Professional development and resources for upskilling have always been a draw for workers, with researchers previously drawing a link between upskilling opportunities and retention. SHRM also noted this year that learning leads to better employee engagement.
Despite the role poor workplace culture plays in driving workers away, people in leadership positions tend to demonstrate below-average empathy, according to research. Employers that focus on developing their managers — by turning them into coaches, for example — may find they hold on to employees longer.
And lastly, it also comes as no surprise that skilled trades is among the fastest-growing sectors. The advent of the AI age demands infrastructure to go along with it. A report earlier this week from Randstad indicated that demand for construction roles, HVAC engineers and robotics technicians have gone up 30%, almost 70% and more than 100%, respectively, since 2022.
“The skilled trades are moving closer to traditional knowledge work, requiring a global re-rating of these career tracks and a shift toward continuous education and training opportunities,” researchers said.