September 22, 2022
The U.S. Labor Force, Sep 2022
NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll
Nearly Four in Ten American Workers Changed Jobs Since 2020
American workers are on the move. 38% of workers who receive a paycheck have changed jobs in the last two years, marking an increase from almost five years ago. Better pay and opportunity are the leading reasons workers have changed jobs. Many American workers also report receiving a pay increase in the past year. Notable demographic differences are present, especially when it comes to income.
Nearly four in ten Americans who work for pay (38%) say they have changed jobs in the past two years. This is up from 32% in early 2018.
Americans under the age of 45 (48%) are more than twice as likely as their older counterparts (22%) to have changed jobs. Millennials and Gen Z (52%) are more likely than any other group to report a shift.
Better pay (32%) is the number-one reason for changing jobs, among workers who have found a new position in the last two years. 23% have done so for better opportunities while 12% changed jobs because of relocation. 10% report losing their previous job. Five percent made the shift due to reduced hours. The option to work remotely and greater flexibility each receives 3%. More than one in ten (11%) changed jobs for another reason.
61% of adults working for pay report receiving a raise in the past year. This is up from 56% in 2018. Seven in ten members of GenZ and Millennials (70%) report receiving a raise. Those earning $75,000 or more (66%) are more likely than lower wage earners (55%) to have gotten a raise. College graduates (68%) and men (63%) are more likely than those without a degree (54%) and women (58%) to have received a raise.
Nearly six in ten Americans (57%) say they are currently working for pay.
"COVID has upended how Americans work," says Lee M. Miringoff, Director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. "The next year will be telling about whether these changes are long-lasting or just a transition back to work as usual."