Great Resignation continues: Cash-strapped employees expect to change jobs within 12 months

A quarter of workers surveyed by PwC expect to change jobs in the next 12 months, up from 19% last year, as they are increasingly left cash-strapped in a cooling economy while dealing with inflationary pressures.

Even as the ‘Great Resignation’ continues, about 42% of the employees surveyed by PwC in its latest study of the global workforce said they planned to demand a pay rise to cope with the higher cost of living, up from 35% last year.

Some 46% of respondents to the 2023 Hopes and Fears Global Workforce Survey, which polled 54,000 workers in 46 countries, said either their households were struggling to pay bills every month or they could not pay bills most of the time.

“With the ongoing economic uncertainty, we see a global workforce that wants more pay and more meaning from their work,” said Bhushan Sethi, joint global leader of PwC’s people and organisation practice.

Some 38% said they had money left over at the end of the month, down from 47% last year.

About one worker in five had multiple jobs, with 69% of them saying they were doing so for additional income.

“Purpose, company culture and inclusion also remain key to employee concerns,” the survey found.

Workers who struggled financially were also less able to meet the challenges of the future, including investing in developing new skills and adapting to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).

Among the workers surveyed who were doing better financially, more than a third said AI would improve their productivity, while a quarter expected AI to create new job opportunities.

Younger workers, including gen Z and millennials — people born after 1981 — expected to see a positive impact from AI on their careers in the next five years, the survey found.

This article was first published by AAP.