New Year, New Career

Three quarters of workers considering a change of job would like to be in place with their new employer within three months. A new survey conducted by international recruitment consultancy Robert Walters shows that this is the time of year when people are most likely to consider leaving their existing job.

A total of almost 1300 professionals from all around the world, working in a variety of industries, took part in the global web poll, which asked them to state in which timeframe they would hope to start a new job: within 1 month or less, 2 months, 3 months or more than 4 months.

Given that almost half the participants in the web poll said they would look to start a new job within a month, the findings confirm that New Year really does act as a catalyst for "taking stock of one's life."

More recently, the Robert Walters Global Salary Survey 2007 showed that there is unprecedented demand for high quality candidates, on a global basis, which is having a strong upward effect on salaries. Year-on-year increases in annual packages of 25% have been encountered in a range of industries.

All of these findings show that it is the candidate that holds the whip-hand in today's recruitment market. They can command high salaries; they are likely to move jobs if they are not adequately rewarded; and they are unlikely to wait very long.

Andrea Ross, Associate Director HR Recruitment at Robert Walters Singapore comments:

"New Year has always been a time for a fresh start. Very often, people have used the Christmas break to review their career paths and have come back resolved to change. Having done so, they see little reason for waiting. The fact that they are in strong demand, and can earn more in another job, only makes this easier for them. This would explain why so many respondents answered that they would want to be in place so quickly."

The overall response to the question "Looking for a new job in 2007? When would you prefer to start?" was as follows:

Within 1 month 591 responses (46.57%)

In 2 months 273 responses (21.51%)

In 3 months 248 responses (19.54%)

In 4 months or more 157 responses (12.37%)

The web-poll also revealed several interesting differences between the various territories surveyed. Respondents from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa appear the most impatient, with over 60% of participants saying they would seek to move within a month, with less than 12% saying they would wait 4 months or more before moving. The Irish appear the most patient, with almost 30% of respondents saying they would be prepared to wait more than 4 months before moving.

Singaporeans seems to be as eager to move on, with over 37% of the respondents indicating that they would start a new job in one month or less, and 29% contemplating a move within 2 months.

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