Today is ‘career-crossroads day’ for British workers

‘Career Crossroads Day’ will see many disgruntled Brits wondering if they can really stick out their jobs for another 12 months

New year, new me’, so the cliché goes, yet it seems there’s more truth to the idea of ‘out with the old’ as 11 January, is when most British workers consider ditching their current job, according to new research.

Falling just over two weeks after Christmas, at the end of the first full week of work and with the next pay cheque still weeks away, ‘Career Crossroads Day’ will see many disgruntled Brits wondering if they can really stick out their existing role for another 12 months. 

Some of the reasons so many of the UK’s workforce are at this career crossroads include feelings of boredom (21%), salaries being too low (34%) and too much stress (30%), leaving many considering their futures, according to the findings by Arden University.

With just under a third (27%) reporting feeling unsupported by their current employer, and one in five (22%) feeling that a lack of flexible working opportunities is making them unhappy at work, Career Crossroads Day is a timely prompt for them to re-evaluate their career or look for a new job.

However, with the average British adult spending 42 hours at work each week, changing role completely is an important decision and one not to be taken lightly as over a third of those questioned (39%) admitted that a previous job change had not improved their situation. 

Victoria Stakelum, Deputy CEO of Arden University, said of the results: “For the majority of British workers, today may be a day to ditch the day job and move onto pastures new, yet, as more than a third of respondents confirmed, acting in haste doesn’t always end up improving the situation.

“The key to a successful move would be to first assess where the skill gap, between you and your next job, lies and then working on improving your skillset before moving; otherwise, you could end up swapping one poor job situation for another.”