Half of U.S. and U.K. workers are starting a new job or looking for one

The Great Resignation doesn’t show signs of letting up, according to a new report indicating that 55% of workers in the United States and the United Kingdom either are looking for a new job or recently started one. What’s more, 35% are likely to make a change in the next year.

“Building the Winning Team: Insight for Recruiting and Retaining Top Talent” is a new employee health and wellbeing report released by the UK-based tech-driven insurance company YuLife and YouGov, an international online research data and analytics technology group. The results could be a wake-up call for businesses to reassess how they keep employees.

“The world is experiencing the Great Attrition, where employers today are under pressure to attract and retain talent. Employers today need to demonstrate their ability to respond to employees’ concerns,” Sammy Rubin, YuLife CEO and founder, said in a statement. “This survey highlights how employers have to adapt their management practices to not only include employee needs but also desires. Companies [that] focus on building a supportive working culture that proactively looks after their staff’s mental, physical, and financial wellbeing stand to reap rewards. An engaged workforce is a critical factor towards ensuring employees feel that they matter, and that is vital if you want to attain talent.”

According to the report, high levels of stress characterize the modern workplace, and businesses that strive to reverse that trend are likely to benefit from reduced churn and turnover.

The impact of high turnover goes beyond the increased recruitment costs and extra work for already-pressed human resources professionals, the report’s authors note. Turnover also affects the people left behind, as 84% of working adults agree that high employee turnover can have a negative impact on productivity and morale. Additionally, 81% of workers find their job is either stressful or slightly stressful; while only 17% don’t find it stressful at all.

Other findings include the following:

• Almost half (49%) of working adults believe that if they were planning on leaving their current role, it is unlikely their current employer could persuade them to stay without offering a pay rise. Yet only 14% say such an offer would change their minds.
• Only 16% of workers agree their employer is very active in preventing and managing stress, while 23% say their employer is willing to offer support but only if employees ask. More than one-fifth (21%) say their employer doesn’t help employees manage stress at all.

Related: A third of employees have considered leaving a job because of poor family benefits

• When asked to select all factors that would lead respondents to consider leaving their job, 54% said poor pay, 44% said poor management, and 40% said low job satisfaction.

The report is based on the results of two surveys conducted in the U.S. and the U.K. of nearly 5,000 adults — including 534 human resources professionals — in April 2023.