One-half of professionals satisfied with job: Survey

Unhappy workers feeling underpaid, burnt out, lack advancement

Almost one-half (49 per cent) of Canadian professionals are satisfied with their current job and not looking for new opportunities, according to a survey by Accenture.

Of those that said they were not satisfied, feeling underpaid (45 per cent), no opportunity for advancement (37 per cent) and feeling tired or burnt out (35 per cent) were cited as the main reasons, found the survey of 4,100 business executives in 32 countries, including Canada.

Pay raises and promotions: More than one-half (54 per cent) of the respondents have asked for or negotiated a pay raise and four out of five (81 per cent) have received one. Slightly more (55 per cent) have asked for a promotion and more than two-thirds (69 per cent) who have done so received one. Additionally, 20 per cent of those who asked received a new role that was better than expected.

Career capital: 89 per cent of Canadians surveyed believe “career capital” (differentiated skills that define and help advance careers) are key to success in the workplace and more than eight out of 10 Canadians (81 per cent) said they are working to increase their career capital. Canadian’s top definitions for the term “career capital” include: reaching goals set for themselves (57 per cent); participating in senior level decision-making (48 per cent); and having the ability to influence decisions at work (46 per cent).

Experience versus education: 35 per cent of the Canadian respondents strongly agreed and 45 per cent agreed that job experience is more important than education in their job.

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