Survey: Many employed workers haven’t sought a new job in years
A job seeker stops at a table offering resume critiques during a job fair held in Atlanta
Job seekers sign in before meeting prospective employers during a career fair in Dallas.
MENLO PARK, Calif. – Is your résumé covered in cobwebs? You’re not alone, according to a recent Accountemps survey.
Nearly half (48 percent) of employed workers interviewed said it’s been at least five years since they last looked for a new job; this includes 30 percent of survey respondents who haven’t conducted a job search in more than a decade.
In the same survey, nearly one in five (19 percent) employees polled said they plan to look for a new job in the next 12 months. Among those, 70 percent expect the effort to be somewhat or very challenging.
The survey was developed by Accountemps, the world’s first and largest specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals, and conducted by an independent research firm. It includes responses from more than 400 employees 18 years of age and older who work in an office environment in the United States.
When workers were asked, “How long has it been since you last looked for a new job?” 32 percent said they had searched within the last two years, while another 20 percent tried within the past two to four years.
Another 12 percent said it had been between five and seven years, followed by another 6 percent looking between eight and 10 years ago. But 30 percent said that it was more than a decade ago that they last looked for a new job.
The average response was six years.
“Professionals who plan to pursue greener pastures should be aware of how job-search strategies have evolved,” said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps and author of Managing Your Career For Dummies® (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). “Change is the only constant today. Applicants can gain an edge by keeping up with the latest job-hunting trends, tools and tactics.”