40% of workers expect to leave their jobs in the next six months, according to McKinsey

MADRID, 19 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

40% of workers plan to leave their jobs in the next six months, according to a survey by McKinsey

The study analyzes the causes that drive workers to leave their jobs and identifies five potential professional profiles towards which employers can focus their strategies to attract and retain talent in the long term.

The consultant warns in its report that the shortage of workers needed to fill job vacancies is increasing and that the number of professionals willing to leave their jobs is increasing, mainly due to inadequate remuneration and lack of professional promotion.

"We are facing a time when the number of job offers is well above the number of professionals capable of satisfying it. The pandemic has caused people to reflect on their way of living and working, so the priorities to the time to stay or choose a job are no longer the same", explains Gloria Macías-Lizaso, partner at McKinsey

According to Macías-Lizaso, "the magnitude of labor discontent that has arisen in the last two years" has been so great that people are faced with the need to make a radical change in their professional life, which has caused "significant job losses of talent in various sectors of the economy.

Thus, according to the results of this study, almost half of the professionals who left their job in the last two years moved to a different industry and two out of three have not returned to work in the same sector.

The industry most affected by this "exodus" of professionals has been consumer and retail, with 76% of workers leaving the sector, followed by the public sector (72%) and finance and insurance (65%).

To deal with this growing job 'attrition', McKinsey has highlighted five potential professional profiles towards which employers can focus their strategy to guarantee the attraction and retention of talent in the long term: the traditional ones; the self-taught; caregivers; the idealists, and the laid back.

The traditional ones, explains the consultant, are people oriented to develop a professional career that grants a certain social status and whose areas of concern focus on the balance between work and personal life. According to the survey, 60% of the people who make up this group have not left their job in the last two years.

The self-taught, on the other hand, focus mainly on aspects such as flexibility, meaningful work and remuneration, while caregivers have compensation as their main motivation (work flexibility, conciliation, support for the health and well-being of employees and professional development).

According to McKinsey, for idealists, mainly young people, remuneration is one of the least relevant labor factors. This type of professional places special value on aspects such as flexibility, professional career and work purpose, which is why they care more about belonging to an inclusive and welcoming company.

The last profile identified by the consultant corresponds to the workers that it calls "relaxed": retired people or people who are not looking for work, but whose reintegration into work is mainly motivated by a set of conditions that go beyond traditional proposals. Thus, one of the most attractive characteristics for this group of people could be a high salary or the performance of a significant job.

"Adapting to the coming circumstances is one of the best strategies that people and companies can adopt to face the future. In addition, life has changed drastically in these last two years, so listening to what people need is more important than ever," concludes the McKinsey partner.