Germany is on the brink of an economic recession, but the job market has so far been relatively unimpressed. There are still many vacancies. And instead of relying on layoffs, the majority of companies continue to hire new employees, shows the employment barometer of the Munich ifo Institute for August.
Accordingly, workers remain in demand and can appear self-confident, as a current applicant study by the recruiting software company Softgarden shows. Accordingly, it is rather the employers who have to fear that their employees will be fired than vice versa.
The HR specialists interviewed around 2,200 people who applied to a new employer in May and June. Only seven percent did so because they were fired. The vast majority, however, applied from an existing employment relationship. And twelve percent were even so brave that they resigned of their own accord without already having a new job. Conclusion of the evaluation: Most applicants did not look for a new job out of sheer necessity, but because they felt they could improve.
This is also reflected in the question of the exact reasons for termination or the desire to change. For those who applied from an existing employment relationship, money and career advancement were the most important arguments. 63 percent stated that they wanted to switch to earn more. 53 percent wanted to give their faltering career new impetus. The third most common reason was dissatisfaction with the manager (38 percent).
But supposedly soft factors such as meaningfulness also play a role: more than one in three people willing to change stated that they could no longer identify with the purpose of the company and one in five found their work pointless. Another aspect is the issue of working conditions and work-life balance: one in four justified their intention to change with the desire for more vacation days and one in five was dissatisfied with the home office rule.
want to earn more
62.6 percent
Career has stalled
52.7 percent
Dissatisfied with manager
38.4 percent
I can no longer identify with the purpose of the company
35.8 percent
Would like more vacation days
26.3 percent
Dissatisfied with home office arrangement
20.7 percent
Find my work pointless
20.4 percent
Was actually satisfied, but got a better offer
17.8 percent
Dissatisfied with the Corona management
15.4 percent
* Summarized responses “fully agree” and “rather agree”; Source: Softgarden
The picture is somewhat different for respondents who have already resigned without already securing a new job. The main reason for termination in this group is dissatisfaction with the manager – every second person did not get along with the boss. Only then does the desire for more salary and a career leap follow. At least one in five from this group also states that they were dissatisfied with the employer’s corona management.
The bottom line is that almost every second respondent states that the employer could have prevented the termination, for example through more appreciation or better pay. However, the survey also shows that if employees are dissatisfied, the employer often does not have much time to persuade the staff to stay. 70 percent of those surveyed needed at most a few months from the first doubts about the job to being fired or applying to a competitor. Only three out of ten applicants surveyed considered changing jobs for a year or more before taking action.
