New Survey: Why Don’t Job Applicants Accept Offers?

COM17AEChart-4-12-2017Express Employment Professionals recently released new survey results revealing the reasons applicants do not accept jobs and the reasons employees leave their jobs.

In a survey of 1,951 businesses, respondents were asked, “What hurdles stop applicants from accepting a job at your company?” They were also asked, “What hurdles cause employees to leave a job?”

Thirty percent (30%) said “low pay” stops applicants from accepting a job, making it the most popular response. Thirteen percent (13%) said “lack of advancement/opportunity,” and another 13% said “lack of transportation.”

“Lack of advancement/opportunity” was the most popular response for why employees leave a job, at 34%, followed by “low pay” (30%) and “not a good cultural fit” (27%).

Even though respondents were asked to select all reasons that applied, a majority of respondents chose “none,” indicating the diversity of reasons at play.

Full results are below.

“It’s clear that pay and advancement remain top motivators for job seekers,” said Bob Funk, CEO of Express. “Still, there is a wide range of factors to which employers must be sensitive. As the labor market tightens, businesses have to be even more aware of what may prevent them from making a good hire. They also should take care to be aware of what may drive away good employees currently on the payroll. Proactively responding to these hurdles is key to maintaining a talented, stable team.”

What hurdles stop applicants from accepting a job at your company? (Please check all that apply.)  Q1 2017 Q4 2016 Q3 2016 Q2 2016
Low pay 30% 27% 33% 28%
Other 29% 32% 28% 23%
Lack of advancement/opportunity 13% 20% 17% 27%
Lack of transportation 13% 13% 15% 12%
Inflexible schedule 12% 11% 17% 14%
Lack of company benefits 12% 10%
Long Hours 11% 12% 10% 18%
Perfect fit 10% 11% 9% 15%
Would lose government benefits 8% 6%
No child care available 6% 5% 9% 3%
Would lose disability benefits 3% 0% 2% 1%
What hurdles cause employees to leave a job? (Please check all that apply.)  Q1 2017 Q4 2016 Q3 2016 Q2 2016
Lack of advancement/opportunity 34% 35% 28% 40%
Low pay 30% 27% 27% 29%
Not a good cultural fit 27% 26% 33% 28%
Other 25% 27% 22% 22%
Unlikeable boss/management 17% 16% 22% 18%
Difficult schedule 17% 16% 17% 16%
Long hours 14% 16% 14% 18%
Lack of transportation 9% 10% 14% 10%
Unlikeable co-workers 8% 7% 11% 8%
No child care available 4% 3% 8% 5%

The survey of 1,951 businesses, which are current and former clients of Express Employment Professionals, covers job insights for the first quarter of 2017.  Previous surveys were conducted to cover job insights of the quarters indicated.

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2 Responses to New Survey: Why Don’t Job Applicants Accept Offers?

  1. Mike Mauney May 2, 2017 at 8:45 am #

    do employees consider what they have to offer in the beginning. even those whose career has advanced them up the ladder in one field does not make them that valuable in another without proper training.

  2. Mary Lou Sheedy May 2, 2017 at 9:26 am #

    In the survey results for what keeps applicants from accepting a job, it would be interesting to know what comprises the “Other” category since that is a significant percentage amount of unknowns at 29%. The same for why employees leave a job where the “Other” category is at 25%.

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