As we approach the end of the year, it’s roundabout the time when many of us start to think about what’s next––personally and professionally.
Last year, 16 per cent of Britons made a New Year’s resolution, according to YouGov. That compares to 11 per cent who made one as 2020 ended. If your resolution for 2023 is to get a new job, then this is a great time to think about your motivations, where you’d like to go next––and put some plans in place too.
Here are six compelling reasons why you just might think about making that move.
1. Get more money
One of the best ways to get a salary bump is to switch jobs. The negotiating process is your opportunity to make the case for a bigger pay packet. Pew Research Center backs this up, recently reporting that half of workers who switched jobs in 2022 got a net pay increase of 9.7 per cent or more.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), pay growth in average total pay (including bonuses) was 6 per cent, and growth in regular pay (excluding bonuses) was 5.7 per cent among employees in July to September of this year. That sounds great, right? However, adjusted for inflation, total pay actually fell by 2.6 per cent. Time to get the CV out.
2. Get better benefits
Alongside more money in your pocket every month, another way to boost your bottom line is by switching to a company that offers tangible benefits that translate into money saved. These could include commuting subsidies, health and wellness programmes, free lunch and snacks or a cycle to work scheme.
3. Learn new skills
A key sign it is time to move on from a job is when you are coasting along and no longer learning anything new. If you find that there are no remaining learning and development opportunities or you’re “quiet quitting”, aka doing the bare minimum each day to keep things ticking over, then it could very well be time to begin a job hunt.
4. Pivot to a new industry
If you work in the tech sector in particular, you won’t be unaware of the rounds of layoffs and rationalisations happening across the industry. From the big guns of Meta, Amazon and Twitter to smaller players, many companies have let staff go this year.
To secure your future career success, a careful look at the sectors and industries that are robust is a good starting point. Whether you are technical or not, a career at a company specialising in cybersecurity, AI or machine learning, data science or cloud computing are all good bets.
5. Get a better way of working
One in five of us want to work full-time remotely, but not all companies are happy about facilitating that as the pandemic has eased. Office space is expensive and those at the top like to see people in person, as a result. You may also be stuck working rigid in-office days that don’t suit you, at your manager’s behest.
Switching roles gives you a lever to negotiate the way you would like to work. Whether that is full-time remote, a hybrid schedule or fully flexible, this can be an opportunity to create a way of working that genuinely works for you.
6. Make new friends
You may think this one sounds fluffy, but many of us are missing the connections we previously had with our work friends since the advent of the pandemic and remote working. Gallup data backs this up. It found that 44 per cent of people are more likely to recommend their company as a great place to work if they have a best friend at the office.
Having an office pal not only makes work more fun, but Gallup also says it is key to employee engagement. You’ll innovate and share ideas, and get more done to boot.
Convinced? Here are three companies hiring into the new year to check out––and you can discover plenty more open roles on The London Economic Job Board.
ByteDance is the world’s biggest unicorn company. It is also the parent of TikTok, which is experiencing rapid growth and officially has over one billion monthly active users. The company is recruiting now and hiring for roles in London. See those here.
It is a good time to get a CV into Microsoft. The company has just announced a 10-year partnership with the London Stock Exchange, and has taken an almost 4 per cent stake too. The partnership will involve a new data infrastructure, and analytics and modelling solutions with Microsoft Azure, AI, and Microsoft Teams. Discover Microsoft’s open roles here.
If you’d like to work at a global firm, eClerx is one to look at. The company employs 14,000-plus people internationally and provides business process management, automation and analytics services to a number of Fortune 2000 enterprises. Discover all open roles here.
Discover your new job for 2023 on The London Economic Job Board now