Iona Bain
Young workers lumbered with low wages and an exploitative boss have a new, very good reason to jump ship, according to research published by the Resolution Foundation this week.
Employees aged between 18 and 29 will see their earnings rise three times faster if they move jobs compared to staying put.
The think tank found that the youngest workers gained the most from ringing the changes, seeing their pay grow 2.7 times faster than those who stayed loyal to one employer between 2007 and 2014.
Sadly, young people are less likely to take the plunge amid insecurity about job prospects. Job switching among the youngest demographic had fallen by a third over the last decade. If our generation had continued to switch jobs at the same rate, pay would have been on average 3 per cent higher today.
Previous research from RF found that people in their 20s have suffered pay cuts three times as bad as those aged over 60.
“Frequent job moves are the main route to the rapid pay increases young people should experience as they begin their working lives,” says Laura Gardiner, senior policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation.
Ms Gardiner says: “Unless we want to see a long-term scarring effect on the wages of future generations, millennials must regain confidence and increase the frequency with which they move jobs, and firms must be more willing to take them on.”
Want advice on how to have a more balanced career? Come talk to me at Millbank Tower on Sat 23 April – I will be hosting one-on-one sessions as part of Marie Claire @ Work Live. Tickets (and the full line-up for the day) can be found here.
