Exclusive survey data: Why unhappy workers are staying in their jobs

Why aren't unhappy workers leaving image

Michael Page’s recent talent trends survey of 5,000 office workers investigated current levels of job satisfaction in the UK workforce, with some fascinating results. In fact, the data shows that one fifth of respondents are unhappy in their current role, but are not doing anything about it.

In contrast, one-quarter (26%) say they are actively searching for another job and half (48%) are happy in their current role and aren’t looking to leave.

Here, we’re going to be going in depth on the reasons cited for this reluctance to change roles and what it means for employers.

Which workers are most likely to be unhappy but staying put?

Similar proportions of male (19%) and female (17%) employees say they’re unhappy but aren’t taking any steps to deal with it, and there was also little variance in the results across different age groups.

However, there were some interesting outliers. In particular, solely remote workers are more likely to be unhappy but doing nothing about it, while employees earning £60,001 to £70,000 a year showed higher levels of what might be called “apathetic discontent” than workers in any other salary band.

This should be a concern to employers. It’s impossible to keep every one of your employees happy and engaged at all times. But where people are actively unhappy, it’s far better for employers if those workers can find another job and move on. Otherwise, their negativity could rub off on colleagues.

Unfortunately, employees don’t necessarily feel the same. Half (51%) of office workers who are unhappy in their job but not actively looking for new work say they could stick with their current employer for more than a year, with one in six admitting they could last for more than four years without leaving.

This brings us to an important question: why would an unhappy employee stick around rather than seeking to move elsewhere?

Watch our video guide to the top reasons why workers stay in jobs they're unhappy with:

Top 11 reasons why employees stay in jobs they are unhappy with

We asked all the respondents who were unhappy in their current roles, but who weren’t actively pursuing a different job, what was holding them back from finding something new. Specifically, we asked them to choose their top three factors from a list of common reasons. Here are those factors, ranked in order of popularity:

I worry about job security in a new role (33%)
Concerns around my work-life balance (27%)
I don’t have the confidence (25%)
I’m worried about inflation and the cost of living and need job stability (24%)
I’m worried about instability in the world (e.g. wars, pandemic) and need job stability (21%)
There aren’t enough jobs going in my sector (17%)
I don’t have time to look for a new role (16%)
I don’t have the skills or expertise I need for the job I want (14%)
I don’t know where to start with a job search (12%)
I don’t have the freedom to decide how to work (e.g. remotely, or the office) (11%)
I can’t find a company that reflects my values (8%)

With so much talk about an economic slowdown, it’s no surprise that large proportions of respondents referenced the need for job stability. However, the top-level results hide interesting micro-trends that can only be seen when digging deeper into the data. For more information on the hiring landscape for your sector, contact us today.

Alongside the results above, here are some of the key learnings we identified after segmenting the overarching data into different audience groups:

Remote workers are most concerned about a lack of roles in their sector

Compared to solely office-based and hybrid workers, fully remote employees were less likely to attribute their lack of job search activity to factors like the cost of living crisis, global instability, and the need for security in a new role.

In contrast, they were far more likely than their hybrid and office-based peers to worry about a potential lack of jobs in their sector (30% of fully remote workers cited this in their top three reasons for not searching for a new job, vs. 12% of office workers and 17% of hybrid workers).

Employees at the largest organisations stay put for job security

Job security was the most common reason for unhappy employees not to search for new work. However, it was a more important factor for those at the very largest organisations.

Two-fifths (38%) of unhappy employees at companies with 250+ staff cited it as a top reason for sticking with their current employer, compared to just 29% of employees at businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

Lack of confidence holds back lowest-paid employees

Overall, one in four employees cited a lack of confidence as one of the biggest reasons for them to stay in a job that makes them unhappy. However, this issue was far more likely to affect lower-paid workers.

One-third of unhappy employees earning up to £30,000 a year said a lack of confidence was holding them back from seeking new work, compared to just 19% of employees with salaries of £30,001 or more.

What does this mean for employers?

So, how should all this inform your talent strategy? First and foremost, remember that some of your people could be unsatisfied in their roles and simply waiting for the right opportunity to leave. It’s therefore crucial to create a workplace culture which creates engagement, offers opportunity and incentivises people to stay for the long term.

The above figures also demonstrate the key factors that will appeal to potential candidates, even more reluctant ones. For instance, with so many professionals concerned about job stability and work-life balance, it’ll be important to present your company in interviews as an employer with a bright future which values the wellbeing of its people.

For in in-depth breakdown of what top candidates are looking for from potential employers, download out free Employer Value Proposition eBook today.

Plus, at a time when a significant proportion of candidates are being put off from pursuing new opportunities by concerns around their own skillsets, be sure to promote your flexibility and capacity to upskill.