A new report has found that most tech workers in the UK are unhappy with their current role.
AI-powered job site hackajob surveyed over a thousand workers in the tech industry covering a diverse range of roles, from developers and engineers to data scientists and product managers.
The level of discontent was startling, with only 11% of respondents saying they were happy to continue working in their current employment. A massive 77%, on the other hand, were unhappy and looking for new vacancies.
The new working world
The What Do Tech Talent Want in 2023 report (opens in new tab) revealed that the benefits and perks workers are looking for are not being offered by employers.
Since the global pandemic, ways of working have shifted, with many continuing to work remotely and flexibly. This in turn has shifted the priorities of what workers value most, and it seems employers are still playing catch-up.
Mark Chaffey, CEO and co-founder of hackajob, commented: “With former perks such as flexible working now being seen as the norm, many companies are seemingly struggling to figure out what the new era of benefits means for their business.
He added, “The gap between what companies are offering, and what tech workers want is causing unrest at a time when there’s no shortage of alternative job openings out there.”
It seems that these sorts of concerns really matter to workers – more than what perhaps employers realize or are willing to concede – as 20% of respondents said they are ready to leave their roles as soon as they can to find work that meets their needs.
Second only to pay, company culture was the most important factor for employees in being attracted to a new role, as well as being the main reason happy workers loved their current employer and wanted to continue working for them. The ability to work flexibly/ remotely was the next most commonly chosen reason.
On that note, remote working was what tech workers said they enjoy most about their current role by a significant margin, with 61% citing this aspect. Tech stack (34%), benefits (25%) and location (21%) were the other factors picked out by respondents.
On the flipside, there was a pretty even split between salary (34%), lack of learning and development (32%) and not feeling valued (32%) as the main challenges and frustrations employees faced at work.
Along with flexible working arrangements, another emerging work trend that is being mooted is a four-day work week, and it seems tech workers are all in favor, with a large 83% wanting to see this introduced.
It also seems that tech workers haven't been scared into compromising their working demands by the mass layoffs taking place in all corners of the tech industry, with giants such as Google, Amazon, Meta and of course Twitter all going down this route.
Chaffey says that, actually, “this couldn’t be further from the truth… many more “non-tech” organizations are still gearing up to make more tech hires than ever before as every company turns to technology as a critical part of their overall business strategy.”
“There are still plenty of organizations hiring, and now many more people searching for new roles. Whilst salary will always be key to any tech job seeker, it is crucial that companies look outside of just remuneration in order to retain the tech talent they already have.”
In giving advice to employers, Chaffey is clear in how they should attract new workers: “Tech talent want to spend their free time either exercising, spending time with their family and friends, working on a project or hobby and progressing their learning and development. The best benefits package will empower talent to have free time to do whatever they choose.”
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