Following the Great Resignation, the job market is hot. Should workers constantly keep a wandering eye for their next opportunity, even if they’re not necessarily itching to leave?

n the past six months,

Beth

Use synonyms

has increased her salary by nearly £10,000. She has gradually negotiated her way from full-time office hours to a permanent remote-working contract. Her day-to-day opportunities have swelled. Compared to the start of the year, she has struck a better

work

Use synonyms

-life balance. And she’s done it with practically zero haggling or demands.

Instead

Linking Words

, her career upgrade has been achieved by swiftly changing

jobs

Use synonyms

. “Whenever I’ve felt as though the

role

Use synonyms

hasn’t been exactly as promised, I’ve looked for the

next

Linking Words

opportunity

Use synonyms

,” explains

Beth

Use synonyms

. “If

it’s

Use synonyms

something that’s closer to my ideal

work

Use synonyms

set-up, a company that looks appealing,

then

Linking Words

I apply.” Based in Yorkshire, UK,

Beth

Use synonyms

is soon

to begin

Linking Words

her

third

Linking Words

account-manager

role

Use synonyms

this

Linking Words

year. She says she’s only been able to

finally

Linking Words

command a fair wage and flexible working by adopting

this

Linking Words

job

Use synonyms

-seeking mindset. “Unfortunately, my experience is that I’ll only receive a pay rise if I go to my boss with another

job

Use synonyms

offer,” adds

Beth

Use synonyms

. “My end goal has always been remote working. It felt unachievable – until I found my new

role

Use synonyms

.” Since the start of the pandemic, swathes of

workers

Use synonyms

across industries have left their

jobs

Use synonyms

– and millions more are contemplating quitting, too.

It’s

Use synonyms

helping to cause a worldwide hiring crisis.

However

Linking Words

,

it’s

Use synonyms

not just recent

vacancies

Use synonyms

companies are struggling to fill. As many global economies are growing, businesses are struggling to keep up as they expand. The demand for talent is,

therefore

Linking Words

, skyrocketing.

It’s

Use synonyms

created a sellers’ market:

workers

Use synonyms

have more leverage than ever, and many can afford to cherry pick a

role

Use synonyms

that aligns more with their values and desires. Rather than begin searching for a new position when they’re unhappy or burned out – typically years into a

role

Use synonyms

– some

workers

Use synonyms

are opting to seek a better

opportunity

Use synonyms

from day one.

This

Linking Words

mindset is a kind of ‘Great Flirtation’ with new

jobs

Use synonyms

: a constantly wandering eye to other openings, regardless of how long a worker has been in a

role

Use synonyms

, and how content they are in their current

job

Use synonyms

. In a labour market that favours

workers

Use synonyms

, is constantly flirting with other openings the right approach to help

workers

Use synonyms

stay happy, get into better positions – or even achieve more in their career? ‘Irrational, aimless wandering’ For decades, the prevailing narrative has been to stay in a

role

Use synonyms

for as long as possible, build résumé clout and make a lasting contribution to an organisation. Prematurely switching

roles

Use synonyms

was stigmatised as ‘

job

Use synonyms

hopping’ – not just by bosses, but

also

Linking Words

wider society. In 1974, American industrial psychologist Edwin Ghiselli likened it to vagrancy, coining the term ‘Hobo Syndrome’ to describe

workers

Use synonyms

who frequently changed

roles

Use synonyms

. His approach essentially re-framed the complexities of frequent quitting to irrational, aimless wandering – driven by internal impulses absent from “organised or logical thought”.

Workers

Use synonyms

can take advantage of the current labour shortage and secure their dream

role

Use synonyms

– Simon

Wingate

Use synonyms

In

this

Linking Words

framework, employers held power over employees, which kept them in their

roles

Use synonyms

. “The idea was if the employer takes care of you, you do the same and stick with them,” explains Mark Bolino, director of management and international business at the University of Oklahoma, US. The global recession of the 1980s shook loose some of

this

Linking Words

thinking. As companies had to cut costs, they laid off

workers

Use synonyms

, says Bolino, whose research has focused on employees’ dedication to their organisations and why they quit.

Instead

Linking Words

of employers expecting

workers

Use synonyms

to stay in

roles

Use synonyms

indefinitely, he says “the relationship

subsequently

Linking Words

became more transactional: ‘if we have layoffs, we have them. If you find a better

job

Use synonyms

opportunity

Use synonyms

, we understand’.” Rather than climbing a career ladder with one company,

then

Linking Words

, the onus fell to the employee to forge their own path. Yet, ‘sticking’ at a

job

Use synonyms

for the long-term was ingrained. According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American

workers

Use synonyms

’ median

job

Use synonyms

tenure steadily rose from 3.5 years in the 1980s to 4.4 years in the 2000s, before slightly dipping at the end of the past decade. Looking for the

next

Linking Words

opportunity

Use synonyms

has, typically, been a reactive process. Often,

it’s

Use synonyms

to the employee’s detriment: waiting until frustration, a lack of progression or workplace conflict kicks in before bailing. But the pandemic seems to have changed

this

Linking Words

thinking; as

workers

Use synonyms

report long stretches of stress and introspection, many are re-evaluating their lives and careers – and are more open to making moves.

Workers

Use synonyms

have begun looking for

jobs

Use synonyms

that better match the

work

Use synonyms

set-ups they want – particularly the option for remote- and flexible

work

Use synonyms

. “In August, we found that the

number

Use synonyms

of applications for

jobs

Use synonyms

with remote working outpaced the

number

Use synonyms

of

vacancies

Use synonyms

offering a hybrid

work

Use synonyms

set-up,” says Simon

Wingate

Use synonyms

, managing director at UK recruitment firm Reed.

However

Linking Words

,

job

Use synonyms

adverts have continued in their droves.

Wingate

Use synonyms

says 120,000

vacancies

Use synonyms

were added to Reed in the

first

Linking Words

10 days of November, meaning

it’s

Use synonyms

on track to have its highest

number

Use synonyms

of monthly postings since 2008. A higher

number

Use synonyms

of

vacancies

Use synonyms

, coupled with an increase in employers offering better options to fill those

roles

Use synonyms

, has created an embarrassment of riches for new

job

Use synonyms

options. “

Workers

Use synonyms

can take advantage of the current labour shortage and secure their dream

role

Use synonyms

,” adds

Wingate

Use synonyms

.

Furthermore

Linking Words

, employees can seek

job

Use synonyms

opportunities, even if they’re not necessarily itching to leave their company immediately, and leverage the hot

job

Use synonyms

market to their advantage.

This

Linking Words

is particularly the case as companies create remote-

first

Linking Words

roles

Use synonyms

, opening access to thousands of new

roles

Use synonyms

for millions of

workers

Use synonyms

once geographically excluded. “The power is currently in the workforce’s hands, meaning they can make more demands – including a higher wage, more perks and flexible working arrangements,” says

Wingate

Use synonyms

.