Workers in the District are the most restless in the nation about their jobs, according to a study released this week.
Forty-four percent of D.C. workers said they worry about losing their jobs and 34% are willing to leave their current jobs without a backup plan — both national highs — the for-profit online college University of Phoenix found in the annual survey of adults in 20 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas.
In another national high, 61% of D.C. workers said they were seeking a new job or expecting to look for one in the next six months, making them the most likely to say so.
The most-complained about areas of employment: training, skills development, compensation, advocacy, mental health and job security.
“The message is clear. In order to retain talent, employers must listen to and address core employee needs in several critical areas,” said John Woods, the university’s provost and chief academic officer.
The survey noted that 49% of D.C. workers reported living paycheck to paycheck, and 36% felt “overwhelmed by debt.”
DOCUMENT: University of Phoenix study
“D.C. represents a volatile market — while there was no change in its overall optimism score since last year, it’s at the bottom of the rankings, and it’s the market most likely to have workers looking for jobs by a significant margin,” the study states.
New Yorkers and Philadelphians were the least likely of any city’s workers to quit their jobs, according to the survey.
Nationally, 1 in 3 Americans said they would leave their current employers without another job in the pipeline.
But 69% of all respondents said they would stay with their current employer if things changed.
“By taking concrete steps to address these gaps, employers can transition away from the Great Resignation and into the Great Retention, helping to stabilize the American workforce,” Mr. Woods said.
The survey also found a gap between employers and employees on certain questions.
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While 86% of employers thought their employees were satisfied with their compensation, about half of employees reported being unsatisfied and 56% said they were living paycheck to paycheck.
And while 91% of employers said they believe their employees felt “empowered in their job,” 52% of U.S. workers saw themselves as easily replaceable in their positions and 41% worried about losing their jobs.
The 2022 Career Optimism Index conducted its 20-minute online survey of 5,000 U.S. adults who were currently employed or hoping for employment from Dec. 12 to Jan. 15.
It included additional samplings of 500 employers and 300 workers apiece in 20 of the nation’s largest cities: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, the San Francisco Bay Area, the District, Houston, Boston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Tampa, Seattle, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Orlando, Cleveland and Sacramento, California.
The overall survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.95 percentage points, and the D.C. results had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.55 percentage points.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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