Four out of 10 Irish employees are likely to switch jobs in the next year amid rising workloads and an accelerating pace of change. The answer is not simply more money, it is professional development.
Approximately 40% of Irish workers will change employers this year say their workloads have increased significantly in the past year (41%).
Not only that but 53% plan to ask for a pay rise in the next year, according to PwC’s Irish 2024 Workforce Hopes & Fears Survey. The PwC study looked at the attitudes and behaviours of 1,000 Irish workers as part of a global study across four generations of 56,000 workers across 50 countries.
“The priority for employers is to engage with their employees along with providing as many opportunities for them to develop their skills in order to retain their key talent”
The survey reveals that cost of living pressures loom large with 60% of respondents saying they are financially stressed.
Cultivate enriching and satisfying careers
Employees are prioritising skills-growth, according to the survey. Almost a quarter (24%) of Irish workers say that their employer does not provide them with adequate opportunities to learn new skills.
This is particularly important for workers considering leaving: 73% say that any decision to stay with their current employer or switch to a new one would be influenced by opportunities to learn new skills.
However, Irish employees are less attuned than global counterparts to the skills changes that are needed. For example, 27% of Irish employees are firmly of the view that the skills their job requires will change significantly in the next five years compared to 36% for global counterparts.
While workers are willing to embrace change, Irish respondents are likely to underestimate its pace and impact. For example, just over a third (36%) say that technological change, including AI and GenAI, will impact their jobs to a very large or large extent in the next three years compared to nearly half (46%) for global counterparts.
“With four out of ten Irish employees saying that they are likely to consider a change of employer in the year ahead, the priority for employers is to engage with their employees along with providing as many opportunities for them to develop their skills in order to retain their key talent,” advised Gerard McDonough, partner, Workforce Consulting at PwC Ireland.
“As workers face heightened uncertainty, rising workloads and ongoing financial stress, they are prioritising skills growth.
“Still more needs to be done by employers to fully embrace new and emerging technologies such as GenAI to turbocharge the growth and accelerate their employees’ careers.
“Employees are placing an increased premium on skills growth in an environment characterised by constant technological disruption. Employers must ensure that they are investing in their employees and technological platforms to mitigate employee pressures and retain the brightest talent.”
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