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Career change statistics UK

The most important facts and figures on career change in Britain | June 2024

Andrew Fennell photo Andrew Fennell | Featured in:
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Career change statistics UK
Andrew Fennell photo Andrew Fennell | Featured in:
CV news features

Gone are the days of people having a “job for life” – Nowadays we are changing jobs more frequently than ever.

To find out exactly how often people are changing jobs in the UK, how many people are switching, who they are, and what the impacts of career moves are – we did some extensive research.

We’ve scoured through ONS data, job seeker surveys and scores of HR reports, to compile the most important and up-to-date career change statistics right here.

 

Key career change statistics

  • The average British worker changes jobs every 5 years
  • 1 in 10 UK workers have made a career change over the past 10 years
  • 4 million Brits have changed careers since the pandemic
  • Seeking better pay is the number one reason people look for a new job in the UK
  • 38% of UK employees want an increased salary due to the cost-of-living crisis.
  • The most common age to make a career change is 31
  • Workers who switch jobs receive an average 5.2% salary increase
  • Gen Z workers spend an average of 1.7 years in each job
  • One in five Brits lack the confidence to make a career change
  • By 2030, 14% of employees could need to change careers due to AI advancements

 

 

How often do people change careers in the UK?

The average British worker changes jobs every 5 years according to a study by insurer Liverpool Victoria.

 

Average number of jobs in a lifetime UK

  • LV data shows that the average person will hold 9 jobs in their lifetime and work for 6 different employers.
  • The average millennial worker will hold 15 jobs in their lifetime according to Cengage Learning.

 

How many people change career UK

 

How many people change careers in the UK?

How many people are taking the jump and making a career change in 2024?

  • Data from the ONS shows that around 1 in 10 UK workers have made a career change over the past 10 years.
  • PWC reported that a quarter of UK workers are expected to change jobs in the next 12 months
  • Recent research from the CIPD discovered that 4 million people have changed careers since the pandemic, due to a lack of flexibility in their former workplace.
  • CIPD data shows that 2 million people in the UK changed careers across the whole of 2023.

 

How many people want to change career?

How many Brits are planning to make a career change in the near future?

  • A survey from KPMG found that 40% of UK employees are currently considering a career change due to rising costs of living.
  • A survey carried out by training provider Le Cordon Bleu, found that half of Brits dream of turning their hobby into a career.
  • According to a recent UK YouGov poll only 17% of British workers love their job.

 

Why do people change careers?

What are the core reasons that drive people to make big career changes in the UK?

  • According to research from Allen Associates, seeking better pay is the number one reason people look for a new job in the UK, with 51% of survey respondents citing it as their key motivation.
  • A survey of career changers carried out by the CIPD found that 35% were looking for better pay and benefits, 27% want improved job satisfaction, 24% want better work-life balance, and 23% want to do a different type of job.
  • One in five recent career changers cited “being unhappy with leadership” as the main reason for leaving their last employer (CIPD)
  • In 2023 more than a third (38%) of UK employees want an increased salary due to financial pressures caused by the cost-of-living crisis.
  • A recent survey by Go1 found that one in five people change jobs due to “toxic company culture”
  • A survey by FindCourses found that 65% of career changers were prompted to change jobs by impacts of Covid-19

 

Reasons for career change UK

 

What are the benefits of changing careers or job?

Do people benefit from changing careers, and if so, how much?

  • Monster recently reported that full-time workers who switch jobs, receive an average 5.2% salary increase.
  • ONS data shows that workers who moved company but stayed in the same profession, saw an average 8% increase in salary.
  • Career changers in the management and senior director category see the highest pay increase when moving jobs at 15% (ONS)
  • ONS data shows that individuals who change jobs regularly experience 4.3% higher pay-growth than those who don’t change jobs regularly.
  • The ONS also found that job changers who moved to a different company (as opposed to moving jobs internally) achieved a 2% higher earnings growth rate.

 

Pay growth of career changers

 

Which people change careers?

Who are the people making career changes in the UK? What are their professions, ages and genders?

 

Which professions are most likely to change career?

According to user-data from job site Indeed the 3 occupations that people wanted to leave the most last year were:

  1. Hospitality & Tourism
  2. Community & Social Service
  3. Retail & Customer Service

This statement is backed up by ONS data which shows just over a quarter of all job changers came from retail and hospitality firms.

 

What age do people change career?

  • According to global recruiters Michael Page, the most common age to make a career change is 31.
  • One quarter of people believe it’s too late to change career after 50 (Go1 survey)
  • CNN reported that 70% of millennial and Gen Z workers were planning to switch jobs in 2023

 

Gen Z and Boomer average time in job

 

How long each generation stays in a job

A survey of UK workers by Go1 found that the younger generations are changing jobs far more often that their older colleagues, with Gen Z averaging just 1.7 years in each job, compared to baby boomers who stay for 5.7 years.

Age groupAverage time spent in job
Gen Z1.7 years
Millenials3.2 years
Gen X4.3 years
Baby Boomers5.7 years

Source: Go1

 

Gender of career changers

  • Forbes reported that 61% of women were planning a major career change after the pandemic.
  • According to a survey by Search Engine Land, men are 7% more likely to change career than women.

 

How long do people wait before quitting a job?

In addition to being more likely to move jobs, the younger generations are also less likely to hang around when they aren’t happy ; with Gen Z only waiting 4.1 months to make the decision to leave and baby boomers taking 17.6 months to make the decision.

Generation No. of months spent unhappy before deciding to leave job
Gen Z4.1
Millenials11.2
Gen X12.5
Baby boomers17.6

Source: Go1

 

Reasons stopping people from making a career change

  • Research from the UK Leaning & Work Institute found that 69% of people looking for a career change felt they did not have the necessary skills to do so.
  • One in three UK workers over the age of 30 feel that it is too late for them to make a career change.
  • A City & Guilds survey found that one in five Brits lack the confidence to make a career change.
  • Work experience which does not match the experience being asked for in the job advert is the cause of 73% of job-application rejections.
  • 29% of potential career-changers do not move jobs due to risks of financial insecurity.

 

 

The great resignation

The so-called Great resignation saw a record number of UK staff quit their jobs, peaking at 442,000 in Q2 2022.

 

AI impact on career changes

What impacts will AI (artificial intelligence) make on careers in the future?

  • A study by the McKinsey Global Institute reports that by 2030, at least 14% of employees globally could need to change their careers due to AI advancements.
  • A Goldman Sachs study found that 300 million jobs could be replaced by AI automation.

 

Sources

We have gathered these facts and figures from a range of reputable sources across the internet – feel free to check them out for further reading.