UK business faces mass employee exodus post-pandemic

Beamery, the leading talent operating system, today released the results of its survey into the impact of Covid-19 on working life.

The Beamery talent index has found that bad leadership, poor employee support and stagnant growth opportunities during the pandemic are driving enormous employee churn in the UK workplace. According to the data, almost half (48%) of UK office workers have specified that they have either found a new role, are actively looking or will be leaving their jobs this year.

Career 'regression'

53% specifically cite working from home as having a significantly negative impact on their personal development and progression at work, with over a third (39%) of Brits stating that skills have grown stale or they have, in fact, regressed in their roles over the course of the pandemic. Alongside this, a further 43% of those surveyed believe that the lack of "face time" or one-to-one engagement with managers has seriously hindered their promotion prospects. Almost half (48%) commented that their employer has not offered them any opportunities to learn or develop new skills since the globally enforced Covid-19 working from home patterns emerged.

Why aren’t we valued and where is the employer support?

The lack of contact has been cited as another key issue leading to the impending job departures, with 62% of office workers frustrated due to little or no support from their managers over the last year. A quarter (24%) also felt undervalued as employees. In many cases, progression and promotion were only discussed once in the last year, with 1 in 10 office workers stating this was the case.

“Now more than ever, if you want to ensure you attract and retain the best talent in your industry, employee communication is key,” said Abakar Saidov, co-founder and CEO at Beamery. “Workers want a clear, objective way of understanding the skills they need to learn to progress in their career, and employers must provide the right training and mentorship opportunities to help them improve.”

Saidov continued: “Employers need to embrace more efficient ways to track employee happiness to remain competitive in the hiring landscape and put specific markers across career journeys to ensure employees are consistently learning, progressing and, most importantly, enjoying the work they do. Adding efficiency to this process will in many cases transform the company’s approach to spotting, nurturing and retaining talent.”

A summary of key findings from the Beamery talent index:

• Almost half (48%) of UK office workers are leaving or planning to leave their job this year
  • 12% have a new opportunity already
  • 24% actively looking
  • 12% plan to leave later this year
• 63% say this is linked to bad leadership and lack of employer support during the pandemic
• 43% believe that the lack of "face time" or one-to-one engagement with managers has seriously hindered their promotion opportunities
• 53% specifically cite working from home as having a significantly negative impact on personal development and progression at work
• Over a third (39%) of Brits believe their skills have grown stale and they have, in fact, regressed in their role
• 48% say their employer has not offered them the opportunity to learn new skills or develop since the pandemic
• A quarter (24%) don’t feel they are valued employees
• 1 in 10 office workers only discuss progression and promotion once a year
• 82% of respondents believe that UK employers need to better address talent progression in the UK

18-34-year-olds

• 48% of felt isolated or undervalued by working from home (WFH)
• 74% of respondents felt that WFH has hindered personal development and progression in the workplace
• Over a quarter (26%) stated that their work skills have gone stale due to a WFH working environment
• 27% believe they have in fact regressed rather than progressed in their role due to WFH and the pandemic
• 84% are keen to return to the office or have the option of a physical office ready to return to
• Only 13% of 18-34-year-olds enjoy WFH and want to get rid of office
• 48% of 18-34-year-olds have felt that employers have lost focus on providing a sufficient level of employee engagement or support due to WFH
• 51% have had little or inconsistent communication from senior leaders at work
• 58% of 18-34-year-old employees feel that a lack of "face time" or one-to-one time with their employer has hindered their promotional opportunities at work