In a new survey by eJobs.ro and Up Romania, 41% of employees said they are unhappy with their current jobs - 34% expressed dissatisfaction while 7% were very dissatisfied. On the other end, 54% said they were satisfied, and 6% were very satisfied with their work environment and stage in their career.

The main reasons for employees' unhappiness at work are the salary, the relationship with the manager, and the lack of professional recognition.

Asked why they do not change their job if they are unhappy, 32.3% said that although they would be tempted to do so, they have not yet found a better option. They are joined by another 11.8% who believe the market does not offer them other options.

Meanwhile, about one-third plan a change. 26.4% are already looking and applying for other jobs and will not stay in their current position for much longer, and 5.9% have already resigned and are about to leave.

Only 7.6% have decided to wait because they think it is not the right time to make a career change, 5.7% are in a comfort zone and find it difficult to make a change, 4.6% hope the current situation will improve, and 3.4% have gotten used to the people they work with.

Raluca Dumitra, Head of Marketing at eJobs.ro, commented: "Salary is the main reason for dissatisfaction among Romanian employees, being mentioned by 67.3% of respondents. It is, in fact, the argument that weighs the most when they decide to accept a job offer, but also the one that can cause them the greatest dissatisfaction."

According to her, other reasons for the employees' unhappiness include the lack of promotion opportunities (29.9%), the relationship with the manager (28.7%), lack of work recognition (25.4), the benefits package (22.5%), the workload (22.4%), the relationship with the team (21.3%), the work schedule (20.2%), and the lack of balance between work and personal life (19.5%).

If they were, however, on the verge of resigning for another opportunity, 43.9% said a salary counteroffer would make them change their mind. Roughly 12.7% would think again about leaving if their current employer offered them a more generous benefits package, 10.9% would need an improvement in working conditions, 7.4% a professional career plan, and 6.8% would like to get the chance to work on other projects within the company. Meanwhile, 15.9% said that they are at a stage where nothing could make them change their minds.

However, according to the same survey, although almost half of the respondents admit that they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their current job, 31% believe that their interest and involvement in the activities they perform in the company is much higher compared to previous years.

On the employers' side, things look like this: 38% believe that between 60% and 80% of team members are performing, 27% observe this performance in over 80% of their colleagues, just as many say only 40%-60% of team members are performing, and 8% note an increased level of performance in less than 40% of team members.

If a valuable employee does decide to leave the team, 30% of managers said they would try to avoid such a loss with a salary counteroffer. Meanwhile, 20% would propose new exciting projects, 15% would initiate a discussion about advancement options, 9% would add to the benefits chapter, 7% would offer flexibility or the possibility of working from home, while 19% consider that they can no longer motivate the employee at this stage and therefore do not take any action.

The survey was conducted between March and April 2024 on a sample of 4,086 employees and 380 companies.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

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