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The top reason employees had for leaving a job was lack of career development or advancement, according to a new McKinsey study.

Employees are leaving these industries at higher rates. Here’s how to keep them

[Source Images: iStock]

BY Shalene Gupta1 minute read

Despite talk of an impending recession, companies are still scrambling to retain talent. According to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 11.3 million open jobs on the market in May, up from 9.6 million the year before. This isn’t just a resurgence due to a sluggish job market during the pandemic: The quit rate is 25% higher than it was pre-pandemic, according to the BLS.

McKinsey & Company has released a new report that surveyed over 13,000 employees in six different countries, delving into what employees want from their jobs. Here are the key takeaways:

  • Employers should amp up their efforts to retain and attract talent. The study found that 40% of employees are planning to leave their job in the next three to six months. Moreover, of employees who had left, only 35% found a job in the same industry, making the scramble for talent all the greater.
  • Industries with the highest percentage of workers either not returning to the same industry or leaving the workforce altogether include consumer/retail (76%), the public and nonprofit sectors (72%), finance and insurance (65%), and industrials (64%).
  • The top three reasons employees quit their job were lack of career development and advancement (41%), low pay (36%), and uncaring/uninspiring leadership (34%).
  • The top three reasons employees tended to stay at a job were flexibility (40%), meaningful work (38 to 39%), and adequate support for health and well-being (30%).

McKinsey’s survey was carried out from mid-February to early April of this year. It included workers in 16 different industries. You can check out the full results here.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shalene Gupta is a frequent contributor to Fast Company, covering Gen Z in the workplace, the psychology of money, and health business news. She is the coauthor of The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It (Public Affairs, 2021) with Harvard Business School professor Sandra Sucher, and is currently working on a book about severe PMS, PMDD, and PME for Flatiron More


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