Survey: IT pros are "job flirts"

A recent UK survey found that a large percentage of IT professionals are constantly on the lookout for the next opportunity:

The "Work in Progress: Jobseekers survey", carried out by polling firm Loudhouse Research, surveyed over 1,000 UK workers across the UK and found that nearly half (48 per cent) of workers in IT have applied for a job or registered with a recruitment agency in the past 12 months. Despite this, over two-thirds (68 per cent) reckon they will still be in the same job 12 months from now.

According to the study, IT employees are knowledgeable about what they look for in a new job and are intent on finding companies that can offer the best deal. However, money was not necessarily the main priority for job seekers.

Top factors that attract job seekers to a new company or role are interesting or challenging work (89 per cent) and friendly environment (84 per cent).

This is consistent with our own findings at New Equities, based on surveys and roundtable discussions with consultants (both those who work for us and those who don't). Getting the "best deal" is important, but the intangibles such as job satisfaction and cultural fit are also key. And - being listened to was something consultants highly valued and sought in their work environment. Not surprising, but apparently a much rarer occurrence than most of us would think.

All of this points to the looming challenges of 21st century workforce management: how to find the best talent, and how to retain that talent (and the knowledge of those workers). These are actually age-old questions, but they take on a new urgency in the IT industry, as the qualified pool of talent ages and the next generation of potential IT workers, spooked by fresh memories of the recent tech recesssion, opts for other career paths.

Company loyalty is not entirely a thing of the past, but it has to be constantly earned and the bar is set much higher than it was a decade ago. For firms that hire consultants on an ongoing basis, it means adopting a more "consultant-centric" outlook that works from a starting point of trying to understand what consultants want out of their careers and making an honest effort to deliver value in those areas.