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Half of employees say the pandemic has made them reevaluate their career goals, survey finds

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As pandemic restrictions get lifted, more Americans get vaccinated and more offices require employees to come back to work, there have been reports of a growing flood of career changes and resignations. A new survey tries to show why they are leaving.

Half of American workers asked in a recent survey from Prudentialsaid the pandemic has made them reevaluate their career goals and given them “more control in deciding the direction of their career.”

That reevaluation is leading to a lot of career pivots, or desires for pivoting.

About 53% would retrain for a career in a different field or industry than the one they are in, if they had the opportunity.

The Pulse of the American Worker Survey was conducted in May and found 24% of employees admit they are looking for a new job post-pandemic.

Of those planning to find a new job:

  • 50% said they are planning to leave over compensation concerns
  • 38% said it was for better work-life balance
  • 34% said there was a lack of growth opportunities at their current position
  • 24% are tired of working on the same projects
  • 23% said a lack of learning opportunities at their current position has them looking elsewhere.

So what are employees looking for in a job?

Participants told the survey they value job stability, work-life balance, salary/pay, comprehensive benefits and a sense of purpose.

The results also found that employees increasingly want their employers and managers to help them develop skills and training to advance their job and the type of work they do.