The world of work is changing pretty rapidly, but one thing has been pretty consistent over the past few years: Workers are feeling optimistic about their prospects. The US economy keeps adding jobs at a healthy clip, and unemployment remains at pre-Recession lows, making this a jobseekers’ market.
Here’s a look at the current state of the American workplace:
1. We’d All Like to Jump Ship
According to the latest Gallup report on the American Workplace, a record 47% of the workforce says now is a good time to find a quality job, and more than half of employees (51%) are searching for new jobs or watching for openings.
That may be due in part to lack of enthusiasm for their current job. Only one-third of US employees said they’re engaged in their work and workplace, and about one in five fault their managers for failing to motivate them.
But they also say that their employers aren’t really giving them compelling reasons to stay, with 91% reporting the last time they changed jobs, they left their company to do so.
Other top reasons workers are jumping ship, according to Glassdoor, are company culture, salary, or getting stuck in the same job for too long. On average, a 10% higher base pay is associated with a 1.5% higher chance the employee will stick around.
Just don’t look at Millennials solely as the job-hoppers. A new report from Namely, an HR management platform, analyzed data from over 125,000 employees that busted this myth. Baby boomers are most likely to switch jobs, with a median tenure of just 2.53 years.
Related: This Is Who Takes the Least Vacation in the US
2. We All Want to Work in Tech (or at Disney)
Turns out that whether or not we know how to code, many of us are working toward jobs at major tech firms.
This is evidenced by LinkedIn data based on the social network’s users’ actions, including job application numbers, the number of professionals who viewed a company’s career page, and the amount of time people remained employed at each company.
The most-desired workplaces include:
- Alphabet (Google)
- Amazon
- Salesforce
- Uber
- Tesla
- Apple
- Time Warner
- Walt Disney
- Comcast
The reasons are consistent with Gallup’s and Glassdoor’s findings in that employees want to work for companies with excellent culture (this research was complied before Uber’s culture implosion), great salaries, benefits, and perks, and is based also on the overall size of the staff.
Related: Bet You Didn’t See This Coming: 10 Jobs That Will Be Replaced by Robots
3. We Will Be Using Our Phones Even More
We’re all on our phones all day, and now the hiring process is increasingly going mobile.
Nielsen found that texting is the most used data service in the world, with an estimated 18.7 billion texts sent worldwide every day, while a recent survey from Yello found that out of the more than 1,400 adults under 30 surveyed, 86% reported feeling positive about getting text messages during the interview period.
Related: 4 Workplace Stereotypes Millennials Like Me Thoroughly Resent
4. We’re Doing More Work Remotely
The option to work outside the office isn’t a reality for all workers (looking at you, IBM), but Gallup’s report reveals that flexible scheduling and work-from-home opportunities are major considerations when an employee takes or leaves a job.
No wonder the latest FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics report found that the number of people telecommuting in the US increased 115% between 2005 and 2015. That’s 3.9 million US employees, or 2.9% of the total US workforce, who reported working from home at least half of the time. The trend cuts evenly across genders, but is most common among those 46 years of age or older.
5. More of Us Are Working Independently
The total number of self-employed Americans ages 21 and above rose to 40.9 million in 2017, up 2.8% from 2016. That’s about a third (31%) of the US civilian labor force, made up of all demographics, including age, gender, skill, and income group, according to MBO Partners, a provider of technology for independent workers.
Thanks to the demand for skilled workers, over three million of independent workers make more than $100,000 per year.
For those who aren’t self-employed, wage gains have slowed, so more are taking gig work on the side. These occasional independents (those working irregularly or sporadically as independents but at least once per month) now make up a cohort of 12.9 million, up from 10.5 million in 2016.
This article was originally published on Fast Company. It has been republished here with permission.