Is it a good time to change jobs after the Spring Festival?

The Spring Festival holiday is over, and workers have officially started working. Some people go back to work, while others change jobs. But is this a good time to change jobs? Why do many people choose this time to change jobs? Is it necessary to change jobs? How to choose the ratio of promotion and salary increase? Let's take a look at the author's analysis in this article! Recommended for those who are interested in the Internet workplace and changing careers and jobs.

After the Spring Festival, some people go back to work while others change jobs.

Some people were "laid off" due to job changes before the New Year, while some have already started submitting resumes and secretly contacting their next employer.

On social platforms such as Zhihu, Xiaohongshu, and Douban, posts about layoffs and layoff compensation can be seen everywhere. Some are complaining, some are caught off guard, some are confused, and some are even happy.

As opposed to being laid off, people with plans in the workplace are already preparing, trying to catch up with the wave of job hopping and resignation after the New Year, break through the career "bottleneck period" and find a better job.

Interestingly, although people in the workplace can’t help but want to change jobs, they are still torn about the timing of the job change.

Most people in the workplace will choose to change jobs during the new round of peak recruitment season in March and April after receiving their year-end bonus.

This is both a workplace practice and a social reality.

But in the current workplace environment, job hopping is not necessarily a decision that can be made arbitrarily.

Are you planning to change jobs?

01 From "salary increase after promotion" to "salary increase after job hopping"

According to the "2022 Workplace Job-hopping Survey Report (First Three Quarters)":

• The workplace turnover rate in 2022 slowed down compared with the same period last year, and the rate of resignation dropped significantly.
• The employee job-hopping rate in 73.2% of the respondents' companies is less than 10.0%, while this proportion was 65.2% in the same period of 2021.
• The employee job-hopping rate in 17.5% of the respondents' companies is less than 1.0%, while this proportion was 13.2% in the same period of 2021.

Why do workers like to change jobs?

Adults weigh the pros and cons, struggling with many factors such as promotion opportunities, job responsibilities, and frequency of salary increases.

The salary increase cannot keep up with the increase in workload, nor can it keep up with the responsibility that one has to bear.

According to Liepin data, 62% of people change jobs because they "want more money" and 48% because they "want better development opportunities."

It can also be said that most job-hopping occurs because the end of the year is the peak period when the mismatch between reality and expectations occurs.

After working hard for a year, the promotion and salary increase did not come as expected.

On the other hand, in the workplace, adjusting your mindset may allow you to coexist peacefully with your leaders, but all of this is based on the premise that you have changed yourself.

However, the psychological pain this causes to people in the workplace is very obvious.

In addition, job hopping actually depends on the maturity of people's self-awareness in the workplace.

According to data from 58.com, 48% of people in the workplace plan to change jobs after the Spring Festival, of which 58% choose to change jobs within the same industry, and 31% will consider changing industries.

But what is more noteworthy is that according to the job-hopping data over the years, the younger trend is becoming more and more obvious, from those born in the 1990s to those born in the 1995s, and now to those born in the 2000s.

According to the survey data of Houlang Research Institute in 2022, the average number of employed post-00s who have changed jobs is 0.5 times. In other words, one in every two post-00s has changed jobs. When broken down to the number of job hopping, it can be found that 20% of employed post-00s have changed jobs twice.

Among people of other age groups, those born after 1990 have changed jobs an average of 2.4 times. Considering their years of working experience, they change jobs every 3-4 years on average.

Young people who are not content with "stability" are looking for the position that suits them best by changing jobs again and again.

It seems that for most young people, finding a job or changing a job is like finding a partner or changing a partner. Only after comparing and trying can you find the one that suits you best.

When it comes to dissatisfaction with work, young people all have their own feelings.

But there are only a few reasons that make them decide to change jobs.

The work is boring and unfulfilling; the boss is eccentric and difficult to get along with; the colleagues are too competitive and the competition is too intense; too much overtime and exhaustion...

As the saying goes, if you jump well, you will naturally develop better; if you jump badly, it is equivalent to jumping into a pit.

Therefore, in order to avoid jumping from one fire pit to another, young people need to understand that job hopping is not about "jumping salary" but about "jumping career development."

02 Is it really necessary to change jobs?

Regarding the question of why young people change jobs, the reasons can actually be divided into five categories:

1. Some people hope that their salary levels can match their ability levels, but they feel resentful when they see a salary inversion as they get older.
2. Some people expect to grow in their work abilities, but currently they are doing "physical work" every day. They feel that it is too low-level and not in line with their level, and want to switch to another platform to show their talents.
3. Some people demand a balance between work and life, but long-term overtime and excessive work can make people feel physically and mentally exhausted.
4. Some people are fed up with their superiors' incompetence and partiality, so they think about quitting their jobs and changing jobs.
5. Some people yearn for the support of their family, friends and acquaintances, but working alone for a long time makes people feel extremely lonely.

For those born after 1995 who have outstanding personalities, the conflict between "worker-like professional personality" and "distinct subjective personality" is more intense. They prefer jobs that can both stimulate their interests and provide and realize personal meaning.

"Don't become a tool to complete the task." This awareness is particularly strong among those born after 1995.

It can even be said that when young people are fully exposed to their first job, they become increasingly clear about the job they aspire to, or that in their current job, young people gain more and more resource advantages and are therefore unwilling to continue developing in their original company.

Of course, everyone has a different understanding of work, and their considerations for a new job when changing jobs are naturally different.

How young people determine the necessity of job-hopping is the focus of the entire job-hopping event.

Writer Li Shanglong once wrote in "Either Stand Out or Get Out": "Everyone is an individual. What remains after leaving the platform is your ability."

After all, it is difficult for most people to separate the achievements brought by personal abilities from the overall situation. The so-called personal achievements are nothing more than the result of mutual achievements between oneself and the company.

When it comes to job hopping, it is very important to accurately grasp the extent of salary increase after job hopping.

In many online guides about "job hopping", bloggers will repeatedly remind you of one thing: job hopping is a technical job.

Looking through various workplace communities, there is never a lack of discussion and interaction on similar topics.

In response to the question on Zhihu, "What is a reasonable salary increase when changing jobs?", HRs and headhunters all shared a salary increase standard.

"The increase in job-hopping within the same city is generally between 10% and 30%, while the increase for job-hopping in a different city can be as high as 20% to 50%."

It is not easy for a working person with average qualifications to get a 30% salary increase.

You even need to consider that after changing jobs and getting a salary increase, you will have to accept the possibility of no salary increase within a year. If you find that this job is not as ideal as you imagined after working for a year or two, changing jobs again will no longer maximize your benefits.

If you choose to change jobs when the salary increase is not high and there is no job level, you are only making a profit for the other company. While the other company gets a suitable talent at a relatively low cost, you are also selling yourself cheaply.

In addition, it is even more important to note that attempting to relieve stress by changing jobs to find an easier job is a big No.

According to a study published in Advances in Psychological Science, constantly trying to alleviate burnout by job-hopping is not a good approach.

Because after going around in circles, you will find that doing less work and earning more are all fantasies, and changing jobs and getting a raise are all extravagant wishes.

After all, after becoming a worker, we finally face the reality. Our biggest dream is not to get rich overnight and enter the high-end game, but to retire and end the game with one click.

03 Will people who change jobs regret it?

Some people change jobs to get a pay raise, while others choose to change jobs with a pay cut.

Xiaomi, a 28-year-old from Shenzhen, was working in a public relations company with a monthly salary of 15,000 yuan before the New Year. After the New Year, he plans to switch to a media company as a part-time event executor. His working hours are fixed at 8 hours without overtime, and his salary is only 8,000 yuan, a drop of nearly half.

But she said that this is money to buy life and health. In the past few years, her career path has been like other young people who come to Shenzhen to work hard, a straight line rising up, and the pressure behind the high income is hidden in every night of overtime.

After working overtime for a long time before the New Year, Xiaomi suddenly fainted in the company. This changed her mind and she decided to change jobs.

In the current workplace environment, it takes greater courage to decide to take a pay cut and change jobs.

On the surface, salary cuts are a last resort. If there is no other choice, who would be willing to accept a salary cut and change jobs?

The fact is, many people would rather take a pay cut than leave their original working environment.

Zhu Zhu, who left a leading company to join a state-owned enterprise, shared on social media:

"Since I took a pay cut and joined the new company, I've felt like I just need to do my job well. I'm not willing to take on any heavier work, and I feel like I'm losing out if I take any more."

Earlier survey data showed that more than half of programmers are willing to take a pay cut to change jobs, mostly because they hope to exchange a relatively low salary for a calm and healthy state of mind.

Many people say that the extra salary from their previous job was probably used to buy their own happiness.

The salary was cut, and happiness returned, but they also want to say that cutting salary for the sake of cutting salary will not necessarily bring much improvement to life. The most important thing is to think clearly about what you want.

Will things really get better after changing jobs?

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology once conducted a survey on the job demands of approximately 93,000 positions in 2,224 enterprises. The results found that there is a huge gap in talent for technical positions such as algorithm research and application development, with the supply-demand ratios being only 0.13 and 0.17 respectively.

It is normal for technical employees to change jobs frequently, but every job change for non-gap talents carries the risk of salary cuts or even unemployment.

In addition, for workers, job hoppers are in a typical "information asymmetry" market, which is full of risks and uncertainties.

Job hopping is a skill. If you succeed, you will get a promotion and a raise. If you fail, you will stay where you are or even regress, leaving only a 3, 5, or 9-month, riddled past on your resume.

References:

Human Resources Sharing Forum: Pack up and change jobs after the New Year

Houchang Marketing Institute: A guide to job hopping after the Chinese New Year: Should you join a large company or a small company?

Slave society: In a workplace where there is no promotion or salary increase, and you are exhausted as hell, do you want to change jobs after the New Year?

Guyu Data: Job-hopping will increase your salary by 30%? It’s naive to think so now

Author: Yong Yule; Editor: Yang Wu

Source: Internet Matters (ID: hlw0823), digging deep into brand stories and exploring business logic