KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 31): A recent poll has shown that workers seek new employment due to negative aspects of their current job and not necessarily perceptions of available opportunities.

In a statement on Monday (Aug 29), consulting firm Gartner Inc said a survey of more than 1,800 candidates conducted in June revealed that candidates who reported they would repeat an offer decision reached a peak of 83% in 2021, after increasing steadily in 2019 (60%) and 2020 (70%), before decreasing dramatically this year.

It said the same survey found that nearly half of surveyed candidates say they are still open to other offers, while 28% say if they have to make the decision again, they would stay at their previous employer.

Gartner human resources practice director Jamie Kohn said not only are candidates keeping their options open, but they are more likely to back out of offers after accepting.

“Our June survey of over 3,600 candidates found that 44% of respondents backed out after accepting an offer, compared to 36% in 2019,” said Kohn.

Gartner’s survey found that among the more than 3,600 candidates, one-quarter reported their reason for seeking a new role was feeling unappreciated in their current job.

It added that candidates also said they started exploring new job opportunities due to believing they could command better compensation elsewhere (25%) and feeling burned out in their current role (25%).

Kohn said job changes appear to be motivated more by negative experiences with the current job than by the perception of opportunities elsewhere.

However, once candidates start looking elsewhere, they have high expectations.

Of the 1,600 candidates who said they have backed out after accepting an offer, 46% said they did so because they received a better offer.

“Competition for talent remains fierce with candidates still coming to the table with multiple offers — one in three candidates have turned down multiple offers during their recent job search,” she said.

Of the 3,600 candidates Gartner surveyed, 59% said they would be willing to forego a job with 10% higher pay for a job with better work-life balance.

53% of surveyed candidates reported they would forego 10% higher pay for either a more interesting career path or more opportunities to learn new skills.

Another consideration for candidates is flexibility — 86% of candidates who can work remotely now, whether hybrid or fully remote, prefer to work remotely more than 50% of the time.

Nearly half say they would forego 10% higher pay for flexibility in where they work.

Kohn said though candidates may prioritise certain aspects of work over pay, companies should still be transparent about pay in job postings.

“Nearly 50% of candidates stated they have decided not to apply to a role in the past 12 months because the job description did not include the salary,” she said.