Study shows workers are less likely to switch jobs than before the financial crisis
The number of people moving jobs has fallen sharply since the onset of the financial crisis, a report by think tank The Resolution Foundation has revealed.
The report, A steady job?, discovered that the rate at which workers switch roles has been decreasing steadily over the past two decades. This has been caused by trends such as more women returning to the same company after maternity leave and more older people staying in work.
However, the research also found that slowing job mobility has led to a block on promotion prospects, pay rises and productivity gains. The report said that real wages are currently 20 per cent below what they would have been if pre-crash predictions had continued unhindered.
This could be particularly problematic for younger generations, the foundation said, as the typical earnings of a 30-year-old today are about £2,800 a year lower than a 30-year-old five years ago.
“Job mobility is generally a key enabler of pay progression and career advancement, and this is particularly the case for young people as they build careers, find roles in which their productivity will rise, and make progress up the earnings curve,” said the report.
Levels of insecure work – for example, part-time workers in their job for less than five years, and workers in temporary jobs or roles with less than 16 hours week – have also remained relatively steady over the past 20 years. The research found that 32 per cent of the working age population, excluding full-time students, were in insecure employment in 2014.
But, while the study showed no overall rise in the proportion of adults in insecure jobs over the last two decades, the situation has worsened for those in insecure positions because of the rising number of zero hours contracts, self-employment and involuntary part-time and temporary roles.
The report also showed that the number of 18- to 29-year-olds in insecure work has risen dramatically. Half of this age group were in insecure positions in 2014, compared to 40 per cent in 1994.
Laura Gardiner, senior policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The UK has a good record on getting more people into work over the last 20 years, though some have argued that this has come at the expense of rising job insecurity.
“In fact the overall share of insecure work has remained remarkably stable, even since the crash. However, the recent rise of precarious forms of employment, such as zero hours contacts, has brought deeper insecurity for a sizeable minority of workers, particularly young people.”