Employees Who 'Put Job Change on Hold' Regret It More Than Twice as Much as Those Who Tried

JobKorea Survey... 94.7% Have Considered Changing Jobs

74.1% Who Postponed Job Change "Regretted It"
More Than Twice the 32.8% Who Tried and Regretted Changing Jobs

Top Reason for Deciding to Change Jobs: "Salary"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Among those who postponed changing jobs, three out of four answered that they "regretted it," whereas among those who actually attempted to change jobs, only about three out of ten expressed regret.

Source=JobKorea

According to a survey of 1,123 office workers conducted by the employment platform JobKorea on the 10th, 94.7% of respondents answered that they had "recently thought about changing jobs."

The decisive reason for considering a job change was "dissatisfaction with salary," with a response rate of 45.4%. "Feeling that I can no longer grow here (26.6%)" and "lack of work-life balance (24.4%)" ranked second and third, respectively. Other major reasons included "not finding work enjoyable or rewarding (19.7%)," "work intensity being too high (19.0%)," and "dissatisfaction with supervisors, colleagues, and coworkers (18.5%)."

The survey also found that many workers who considered changing jobs did not actually follow through. Among those who had thought about changing jobs, 51.6% answered that they "attempted to change jobs but ended up staying at their current company." 11.7% said they "had the intention to change jobs but never actually tried." On the other hand, 36.7% of workers who had the intention to change jobs actually attempted and moved to a new company.

Those who remained at their current company cited concerns about failing to change jobs as the main reason. The top reasons for staying were "feeling there are no companies worth applying to (42.2%)" and "lack of confidence in succeeding in a job change (35.7%)." Other reasons included "postponing due to timing issues (33.7%)," "because of colleagues and people I work with (16.0%)," and "economic compensation such as salary increases offered by the company (11.6%)."

Source=JobKorea

Notably, among those who postponed changing jobs, the number who answered "I regret it" was more than twice that of those who attempted to change jobs. The response rate for "regretting postponing a job change" was 74.1%, higher than the 32.8% who "regretted attempting a job change."

The reasons for regretting postponing a job change included "when problems felt at the company remain unresolved and only time passes (56.3%)." "Feeling that the right timing for a job change was missed (32.1%)" was also a major factor. Other reasons included "comparing treatment with employees at other companies, such as industry average salaries (22.6%)," "feeling that the company or supervisor does not properly recognize my value (20.6%)," "feeling that the company's prospects are not good (17.4%)," "seeing acquaintances who succeeded in changing jobs thriving (16.8%)," and "feeling that career management failed due to too many years of service or high rank (10.4%)."

Regarding moments of regretting attempting a job change, the top three were "realizing after changing jobs that the new company is just like the old one (44.5%)," "when the outcome was poor or the job change failed (42.2%)," and "when treatment such as salary or rank worsened compared to before (30.5%)." Other reasons included "poor work-life balance and extreme work intensity at the new company (17.2%)," "hearing about noticeable achievements or bonuses at the previous company after changing jobs (12.3%)," and "being very disappointed with colleagues or supervisors met after changing jobs (12.3%)."