One-third of U.S. workers moved to a new company in the past year or plan to move in the next 12 months, according to The Hartford’s 2022 Future of Benefits Study, which polled U.S. workers and human resource benefit decision-makers.

While higher wages were the top motivator cited by workers who switched or plan to switch jobs (47 percent), 33 percent said they sought a better workplace culture. However, only 14 percent of employers recognized company culture as a factor in employees’ decisions to leave. Other top reasons for leaving were career advancement (30 percent), flexibility (24 percent) and poor treatment by management (22 percent).

Overall, only 48 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with their current job.

More than half of U.S. workers surveyed (59 percent) said it would be easy to find a new job, and many have taken or plan to take steps to leave their current job. These include applying for a job (49 percent), updating their resume (62 percent) and looking at job postings (71 percent).

One-third (34 percent) of U.S. workers reported feeling depressed or anxious at least once per week in 2022—up from 20 percent in 2020—and 68 percent said they’ve experienced burnout at work. Many said they are stressed due to being overworked and understaffed (28 percent). And as more workers leave, it creates a burden on the remaining employees to make up for the work done by their departing colleagues.

The majority of employers (71 percent) said the deteriorating mental health of their workforce is having a financial impact on their company, but fewer companies reported offering employee assistance programs (EAP), wellness benefits and addiction treatment programs.

Methodology

The Hartford’s 2022 Future of Benefits Study was fielded Feb. 4-16, 2022 and included 501 employers and 1,001 U.S. workers. The employers surveyed were HR professionals who manage/decide employee benefits and U.S. workers surveyed were actively employed. The margin of error is employer +/- 4% and employee +/-3% at a 95% confidence level. The Hartford’s Future of Benefits study was previously conducted in March 2020, June 2020 and February 2021.