Two in 5 Brits plan to leave due to rising costs

Nearly three quarters of Brits say they don't feel their employer has kept up with the cost of inflation.

When asked how they plan to handle the rising cost of living in the next 12 months, over two in five Brits say they feel they have to find alternative ways of making money because their workplace doesn't do enough to support them. Some employees said that they plan to hand in their notice at work to take on a higher salary or increase their value with their employer by showing that they could get a job somewhere else.

With the rising cost of living, keeping pace with the rising cost of living.

The survey, conducted by people analytics company Visier, shows that fearful Brits expressed concerns about paying their energy bills, rent or mortgage and paying for food.

The majority of respondents agreed that household incomes can't keep pace with the rising cost of living. As the cost of living continues to increase, 79% said they think their employer has an obligation to support them in managing this.

The data shows that increasing living costs have led to a growing trend in reverse retention tactics, whereby employees would try to get an employer to improve their employment package by threatening to leave. A quarter said they were looking for a 9 -- 10% salary rise when asked the percentage salary increase they d expect to hand in their notice in order to negotiate a pay rise.

Despite 79% of respondents admitting they have never done this before, the data shows that it is not just salary concerns that are driving Brits to threaten to quit.

Nearly three in five respondents don't feel guilty about planning to hand in their notice in order to improve their employment package. When asked why they don't feel guilty, needing money to pay energy bills, an alternative employer might pay more and the most competitive recruitment market in a generation were cited as the main reasons.

Along with the rising cost of living and record high gas prices, employees highlighted the financial benefits of working from home, which included saving money on commuting and saving money on buying lunch at work.

As prices continue to soar, employees will look to their employers for ways to help them reduce costs and flourish in the workplace. It will be important to think about retention tactics now in order to get ahead of employees resignation letters or negotiation tactics before they occur.

They said that if their employer offered flexible or hybrid working schemes, more learning and development initiatives and a bonus scheme, they would be less likely to employ reverse retention tactics.

An increasingly competitive labour market, ongoing economic uncertainty and the rising cost of living are likely to fuel employees confidence in threatening to go elsewhere if their workplace package is not up to scratch, said Ian McVey, MD EMEA at Visier. Business leaders must find the answer within the people data that the business is operating with to get ahead of the trend and support employees during these particularly turbulent times. Keep abreast of employee sentiment and implement robust employee experience strategies can create a picture of what it is like to work at a company, and how employees feel. Empowering line managers and HR teams with these insights can help businesses not only focus on improving their retention strategy based on what the data tells us that employees need, but rather to support employees with the things they need to stay at the company.