What can companies do to convince people not to quit?

Nearly a quarter (22%) of respondents in the latest survey said they had already switched jobs during the pandemic. Is there anything employers can do to stem the tide?

Prudential found that 71% of Americans who say they’re looking for a new job would consider staying put for better pay. The second most common answer (28%) was a better retirement plan. But almost as popular as an improved 401(k) benefit was more flexibility over scheduling (27%).

Overall, one in five workers said they would consider accepting a pay cut to achieve better work-life balance. For these employees, a little more rest and control over their own time was worth an average of about 10% of their salaries.

Women want more than better pay, though they want that too

A separate survey from Gallup confirms the value American workers place on flexibility and balance in a job, while revealing a divergence in how men and women rank that factor.

When Gallup asked workers what they prioritize when they assess a new role, men and women were almost equally likely to say better pay. This was true for 65% of men and 63% of women. However, Gallup found that only women were likely to value wellbeing almost as much as pay, with 65% of women checking the box next to work-life balance compared to 56% of men.

“The factors that women are considering when deciding whether or not to take a job, they’re considering with more intensity,” Kristin Barry, director of hiring analytics at Gallup, told the Washington Post. “It really is a ‘both, and.’”

Slightly more than half of women (52%) also said they looked for a diverse workforce when evaluating a job, making diversity the fourth most commonly desired job condition for women. For men, the fourth most sought-after feature was that the company’s covid-19 policies aligned with their personal beliefs.

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