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Third are unhappy with career progression, survey finds

October 26, 2016

While US employees are generally satisfied at work and with their field today, 29% are not happy with their career progression and 41% believe they are not on the path to their dream job, according to Addison Group’s third annual workplace survey. The majority of US employees, 55%, are worried they should be doing more now to get where they want to be in the future.

The survey found salary matters most in a job to all employees. Not making enough money ranked as the top reason for leaving the last job at 43%, followed by not enjoying the work they were doing at 32% and problems with management at 29%.

The survey also found that one in three females, 32%, are unhappy with their career progression, in contrast to 25% of males who feel the same. The data also found 37% of women believe being a manager has the potential to advance their career, and 51% are interested in becoming a manager. Yet, only 39% of women currently manage others, significantly lower than the 60% of men.

Older generations tend to be more content in their field of work, with 82% of baby boomers reporting they are happy in their field compared to only 74% of millennials. The survey also found 67% of millennials want to be a manager, compared to 58% of the broader workforce.

“While job satisfaction is high across the board, the workforce has significant concerns around the value of additional education, the speed of career progression, the viability of management opportunities and their ability to retire,” said Addison Group CEO Thomas Moran. “HR professionals’ ability to better understand the workforce and ongoing marketplace trends like these will enable them to best align their recruitment and retainment strategies with what opportunities top talent are looking for in their careers.”

The study was commissioned by Addison Group and conducted by Edelman Intelligence. It included 1,407 US employees and was fielded between April 25 and April 30, 2016.