Retention, gender gaps, and pay increases: CareerArc/Harris Poll Survey

Ah, retention. 2021 saw employee turnover go through the roof. Between the Great Resignation and Covid, talent acquisition has faced practically unparalleled challenges over the past 12 months.

But even as the Great Resignation begins to wind down and talent acquisition leaders reevaluate the strategies they’ve relied on for so long, a lot remains unclear. How many employees actually quit? Why did other employees choose to stay? If employees considered quitting, what made them change their mind? Did the past year affect men and women differently? And how does this affect how talent acquisition leaders’ approach to recruiting?

So we commissioned The Harris Poll to help us find out. This national online poll of over 900 employed adults aimed to understand employees’ decisions to resign or stay at their current employer over the past 12 months, reasons for staying among those who did, and the resulting impact of these decisions on annual pay increases.

And so, without any further ado, here are the results of our study.

Related: 23 key stats from the Great Resignation + Rehire survey

Key stats:

• 89% of employees didn’t quit in the last 12 months. 61% didn’t even consider quitting.
• 32% of those employed adults who considered quitting over the last 12 months but didn’t say it’s because they haven’t yet found a job that meets their requirements.
• The data revealed several gender gaps across varying factors in the workforce. In the past 12 months among employed adults:
  • 71% of men received a pay increase versus 60% of women.
  • On average, men received a 12.1% pay increase while women received a 6.5% pay increase.
  • While 24% of men reported that they considered quitting but haven’t yet found a job that meets their requirements, for women it was a whopping 44%.
• Among those who stayed at their current employer over the past 12 months, work/life balance (37%) ranked higher than being satisfied with their salary, 36%). For employees who never considered resigning, job satisfaction (49%), and work-life balance (43%) were among the top reasons for staying, followed by satisfaction with their salary (40%) and liking their coworkers (40%).
• Financially, those who quit were more likely to receive a bigger financial benefit than those who stayed. Those who took a new job got a significantly higher percentage increase (21.1%), on average, versus those who stayed (8.0%).
• Employed Americans received a 9.5% pay increase on average over the past 12 months.

The full list of stats:

Who stayed and who quit?

• 89% of employed adults stayed with their employer over the past 12 months.
  • 61% say they never considered resigning.
  • 28% considered resigning but ultimately stayed.
• 11% of employed adults resigned from a job in the past 12 months.

Top reasons employed adults stayed with their employer over the past 12 months

For all employed adults who stayed with their employer over the past 12 months–whether they considered resigning or not–the top reasons they stayed were:

• They liked their job – 41%
• Good work-life balance – 37%
• Satisfied with their salary – 36%
• Liking their co-workers – 34%
• Flexible work schedule – 32%
• Good management/leadership – 26%
• Salary increases – 23%

Why employed adults who considered resigning over the past 12 months ultimately didn’t

When it comes to employees who considered resigning, the top reasons they stayed were:

• Not having found a new job that meets their requirements – 32%
• Satisfied with salary – 27%
• Afraid to make a change – 25%
• Liked their flexible work schedule – 25%
• Liked their job – 24%
• Good work-life balance – 24%
• Salary increases – 21%

Why some employees never even considered resigning

When it comes to employees who never even considered resigning, the top reasons they stayed were:

• Liked their job – 49%
• Good work-life balance – 43%
• Satisfied with their salary – 40%
• Liked their co-workers – 40%
• Flexible work schedule – 35%
• Good management/leadership – 31%
• Positive company culture/morale – 27%

How leaving or staying affected pay increases

• 66% of employed Americans received a pay increase in the past 12 months.
• Employed Americans received a 9.5% pay increase on average over the past 12 months.
  • 24% of employed Americans received a pay increase of less than 5%.
  • 14% received a pay increase of 5%-9%.
  • 11% received a pay increase of 10%-19%.
  • 17% received a pay increase of 20% or more.
• Employees who resigned from a job in the past 12 months were more likely than those who stayed to receive a pay increase of 50% or more (24% vs. 4%).
• Average pay increase for employees who resigned and took another job in the past 12 months was 21.1%. Average pay increase for employees who stayed was 8%.
• Employees who considered resigning but stayed were more likely than those who never considered resigning to receive a pay increase in the past 12 months(72% vs. 63%).

Gender differences across the board

There were several key differences between employed men and employed women over the past 12 months, from pay increases to reasons for staying in their current job:

• 71% of employed men received a pay increase in the past 12 months versus 60% of employed women.
• Employed men received an average pay increase of 12.1%. Employed women received an average pay increase of 6.5%.
• Among those who stayed with their employer over the past 12 months, women are more likely than men to say it was because of a flexible work schedule (40% vs. 26%).
• 44% of women who considered resigning but didn’t said it was due to them not finding a new job that meets their requirements. For men, it was 24%.

What this all means for employers

Salary compensation is not the only thing employees want. For employees who never considered resigning, job satisfaction and work-life balance ranked higher on their reasons for staying at their company than competitive pay.

Pay increases remain a strong retention and talent acquisition tactic. For employees who considered leaving but remained at their company, competitive pay is one of their top reasons for staying. Even as job satisfaction and work-life balance climb higher on candidates’ priorities, better pay remains one of the top ways to both attract the talent and keep employees–especially ones who are less satisfied. See our 2022 Social Media Recruiting Playbook for winning examples of how to broadcast your pay increases to prospective candidates on social media.

The majority of Americans got a pay raise, but a gender pay gap persists. Across the board, women are less likely to get a raise, and when they do, it’s a lower pay raise than what men receive on average. Which is possibly one of the reasons why 20% more women than men who haven’t yet quit said they simply haven’t found the right job yet.

Retention is not a losing battle. While many employees did quit during the Great Resignation, the overwhelming majority of employees stayed, and the vast majority didn’t even think about quitting. Keep focusing on making your employees happy–it’s still a highly valuable talent acquisition strategy. Plus, happy employees not only lead to higher retention but also lead to increased employee advocacy and employee referrals.

Invest in social media recruiting. With factors like job satisfaction, flexible work, and work-life balance of top priority to candidates, investing in strategies like social media recruiting to broadcast the various ways you offer those benefits to candidates can reap dividends in terms of your talent acquisition results.

Survey methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of CareerArc between February 17-22, 2022, among 2,067 adults ages 18+, among whom 924 are employed full-time/part-time. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact BAM at careerarc@bamtheagency.com.

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