As the debate rages over the extent of a so-called “Great Resignation,” brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, a new poll finds the majority of Canadians like their current job and are not planning to change them any time soon.
Seventy-two per cent of respondents to a new Nanos Research poll, conducted for CTV News, reported they will likely still be working in their current job 12 months from now.
Canadians aged 55 years and older were far more likely to indicate they expect to be working at their current employer than younger Canadians - twenty-four per cent reported they will likely change jobs within the next year.
The pandemic allowed many Canadians to re-evaluate their priorities in life and increased many employees’ ability to work remotely, leading to discussions among policymakers, industry executives and other market observers over the scope of labour market turnover.
Many point to recent data from Statistics Canada, which showed job openings topped one million across the country in September, as evidence that many workers took the pandemic as an opportunity to explore different careers.
The Nanos findings show, however, only about one-fifth of respondents said they see themselves working less or changing jobs over the next 12 months.
Of that cohort, 41 per cent said they wanted better pay and 28 per cent said they didn’t like their employer anymore.
Other reasons respondents reported were not wanting to go back to the office full time, a desire for a change of pace or workplace vaccine mandates.
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