Workers Perceive Little Opportunity

From the Wall Street Journal | Mar 17, 2010 | By DIANA
MIDDLETON

Since the start of the recession,
employees say they are too fearful or too discouraged to seek new
opportunities. As a result, they are entrenched in their positions and
have given up looking for higher pay or better positions, even within
their own firms, according to a study conducted by Towers Watson, a
human resources consulting firm. The biennial study, to be released
Tuesday, also found that respondents have dramatically lowered their
career and retirement aspirations.

"Recession
survivors" are a new crop of workers that have restructured their career
expectations based on the economy and stagnant work opportunities,
Diana Middleton reports on the News Hub.

The findings
reflect the attitudes of "recession survivors," says Max Caldwell, a
managing principle at Towers Watson.

Not only are workers cautious about seeking advancement, fewer people
are retiring, making any jumps they might want to make more difficult.

The survey polled more than 20,000 employees at midsize and large
companies across all industries between November 2009 and January 2010
and asked about everything from their plans to look for other jobs to
their retirement expectations.

Some 43% of respondents believe they can only advance if they leave
their current job. But 44% say they have no plans to leave their job
because stability is more important to them. More than half, 51% felt
that there was no clear path toward advancement at their current
employer.

Mr. Caldwell says the survey was meant to capture "how the recession
impacted employees attitudes."

That echoes a recent Conference Board report, based on a survey of
5,000 U.S. households which found only 45% of those people were
satisfied with their jobs, down from 61% in 1987, the first year in
which the survey was conducted.

"We've found that since the recession, people are 'burrowing in,' "
Mr. Caldwell says. "Instead of looking elsewhere for higher pay or the
better position, people are craving stability."

Meg Montford, a Kansas City, Mo., career coach, says people are also
more fearful of looking for outside opportunities. While the job market
has improved some, potential job hunters are spooked from seeing
friends and family lose their jobs, and instead are staying put, she
says.

"Employees are overworked and underappreciated,"
Ms. Montford says, adding that in gratitude for even having a job,
employees are willing to tolerate more workplace discomfort.

That attitude is damaging to the talent pipeline, because young
people aren't gearing up for-or being trained for-promotions, Mr.
Caldwell says.

Some 33% of respondents want to work for one company forever, a
figure that surprised Mr. Caldwell and is a sea change from the
job-hopping that was a hallmark of the early 2000s.

Dan King, a principal of Career Planning and Management Inc. in
Boston says he's seen more people feeling beleaguered and listless about
their careers in the past year. Before the recession, most of his
clients were unhappy employees who wanted help nabbing better positions
tailored to their skills. Now, they are more likely to be hesitant job
seekers who cling to jobs they hate, Mr. King says.

"There's little recognition for the extra load [employees] are
carrying," says Mr. King.

Towers Watson's Mr. Caldwell also says that even as the recovery
continues, it may be harder for employees to get ahead. That's because
companies are focused on managing labor costs and leveraging flexible
staffing models, such as utilizing contractors, Mr. Caldwell says.

"Companies are turning a corner toward recovery, but the recession
has had a big psychological impact on workers," he says. "They're just
holding on."

Write to Diana
Middleton at diana.middleton@wsj.com