New poll finds 95% of workers are thinking about finding new job

Ninety-two per cent said they would consider switching industries altogether

Employees at the online supermarket Picnic are seen at their desks in their office in Duivendrecht, northern Netherlands on 28 June, 2021. A recent suggests burnout is driving workers to look for new opportunities. (ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

After more than a year of contending with the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic, it seems a sweeping number of US workers are on the lookout for new jobs.

In a new poll from job platform Monster.com, 95 per cent of workers said they are thinking about looking for a new job.

Meanwhile, 92 per cent said they would consider switching industries for a new role, according to the poll, surveyed 649 employed US workers on 14 June.

The main reason for seeking out greener pastures, Monster found, was burnout, with 32 per cent of respondents saying that was the driving force pushing them out of their current workplaces.

“Burnout is especially common right now,” Vicki Salemi, a career expert at Monster, told NBC News.

Companies that fail to address the realities of burnout, she said, will find themselves at risk of losing talent.

“Burnout is incredibly impactful on recruitment and retention,” she said.

Managers, Ms Salemi said, should “try to be proactive and not wait until they notice significant burnout”.

A recent poll by Indeed.com also found a similar trend, with 52 per cent of respondents saying they had experienced burnout, representing a rise of nine per cent since the pandemic began.

Two-thirds of respondent said their level of burnout had gotten worse during the pandemic.

Ms Salemi suggested that managers should lead by example, saying: “It comes from the top – leaders should lead by example and in turn, take personal days themselves and set boundaries to remain logged off,” she said.

Recently, dating app Bumble made headlines for giving all of its hundreds of workers a paid week to “shut off and focus on themselves”.

Meanwhile, private equity firm The Carlyle Group said on Twitter it would be shutting down for a week in August and giving workers a $750 “well-being stipend”.

As workers look for opportunities anew, the Monster survey suggested that many are feeling optimistic about the possibilities.

Roughly two-thirds of respondents said they believe that there are job opportunities out there.