Reed exclusive: With half of Londoners looking for a new job, the ‘balance of power is shifting’
Six in ten Londoners are currently looking for their next challenge, recruitment giant Reed told City PM this afternoon.
Chancery Lane-based Simon Wingate, managing director of Reed, shared the findings of a new survey that the company recently commissioned.
It showed that over half of Londoners (52 per cent) are either actively looking for a new job (24 per cent) or are open to new opportunities (28 per cent).
Six in ten of Londoners are sending off more speculative applications than pre-Covid-19 while 45 per cent have stayed in their role longer than planned due to the pandemic.
The balance of power is shifting in the labour market, with jobseekers holding the majority of the cards
Simon Wingate, managing director of Reed
After a challenging 18-months, movement in the labour market is back with workers open to new and different opportunities elsewhere.
Wingate said he and his colleagues have noticed that “[there is] a growing level of empowerment among jobseekers, driven by a record number of vacancies and heightened desire from businesses to recruit top talent.”
A higher salary (41 per cent) and a desire for more flexibility (21 per cent) were the main factors driving London workers to look elsewhere.
However, 30 per cent of respondents said they were looking for other jobs to simply see what else is out there.
Employers need to step up
All hope is not lost for employers for London employers, as the survey also looked at the pull factors which could encourage someone to stay in their role.
Predictably a higher salary came top, with 53 per cent of London respondents saying a raise would make them stay put.
The remaining top five pull factors were flexible hours (33 per cent), more perks and benefits (31 per cent), more annual leave (25 per cent) and a promotion (21 per cent).
For employers, “this is the perfect environment to pick up top talent, however their ability to do so rests on them having an attractive proposition to offer potential employees,” Wingate said.
“Of course, a higher salary will always catch a jobseeker’s eye, but our survey shows the growing importance of other pull factors, such as flexible hours, working from home and fulfilling career progression opportunities,” he concluded.