Over a third, or 38%, of employees in Australia plan to look for a new job in the next 12 months, according to research from Hays Australia.

Another 39% of the more than 3,800 professionals surveyed by Hays said they are open to new opportunities.

According to Hays the reasons cited by professionals for searching for a new job include a lack of promotional opportunities (43%) and uncompetitive salary (39%). Other factors driving people into the jobs market include a poor management style or workplace culture (37%), a lack of new challenges (33%), concerns about job security (also 33%) and poor training and development (25%).

Meanwhile Hays found that 46% are satisfied with their current job while 49% and 55% are satisfied with their current employer and direct manager respectively.

“A new financial year is fast approaching, which traditionally brings fresh activity to the jobs market as new budgets are set and employers look to add to their headcount,” Nick Deligiannis, Managing Director of Hays in Australia & New Zealand, said.

“Financial year end, like New Year, is also a seasonal peak time of the year for people to review whether they should stay or change jobs,” Deligiannis said. “For employers, this movement of people will add to their staff retention challenges, which are already heightened in response to a gap in salary increase expectations between organisations and their employees.”

“Many professionals feel that their career stagnated over the past year,” he explains. “They put their career plans on hold to help their organisation through the crisis and recover. Now, they are focused on their career again and are prioritising advancement,” Deligiannis added.

Hays found that while career progression is valued, the data showed 16% of employees expect to receive a promotion in the next 12 months.

Furthermore, employees developed their soft (46%) and technical skills (45%) over the past year, while 21% gained higher or additional qualifications. 

“This upskilling has put professionals in a strong position to jump ship if their career goals can’t be achieved in their current workplace,” Deligiannis said.