Dive Brief:

• A plurality of professionals (36%) surveyed by Korn Ferry said they were planning on taking a new job in the future because the pandemic gave them time to consider what they actually wanted. Thirty-two percent said they plan to leave because they disliked the culture at their organization.
• Nearly half of workers surveyed said they were more likely to quit without another job lined up now than they were pre-pandemic. Forty-three percent said they would not accept a job if they were required to go into the office everyday for it.
• "The last 18 months have given us all a lot of time for introspection, and many professionals realize that the day-to-day grind of their jobs just isn’t worth it, and it’s time to pursue work options that are more fulfilling and provide purpose," Korn Ferry Workforce Transformation Practice Leader Elise Freedman said in a statement.

Dive Insight:

The U.S. has been getting back to work, recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows, but employers in various industries report difficulties hiring. Those difficulties range from dealing with an already slim and aging workforce to managing a worker pool that has gained the confidence to seek out other opportunities; a June report from Robert Half said that nearly one-third of employees surveyed would be looking for a new job in the coming months.

While nearly 1 in 3 workers surveyed by Robert Half said they had "a shift in perspective due to the pandemic," workers in other surveys have said they may quit specifically over their employers’ handling of the pandemic. Notably, while a majority of executives surveyed by SilkRoad Technology and OnePoll said their companies demonstrated commitment to their employees in 2020, more than half of employees surveyed said they wished their companies had provided more support.

These conditions have prompted employers to reconsider their benefits mix — as well as the way they work, overall. Employers turned to learning and development not only to prepare employees to take over a variety of tasks during the pandemic but to keep them onboard for the long haul. Hybrid working models where employees may only work in offices part of the time have also emerged — though to varying degrees of excitement. 

Employee flexibility may be here to stay, however. A Randstad report from June declared that hybrid work may be "the new norm," showing that employers had stepped up to provide work-from-home support, including flexible hours policies, as workers adjusted to the pandemic.