While compensation is still a critical motivator for job candidates when making career decisions, the type of work they’ll be doing has now surpassed salary as the most important consideration, according to a survey report released by ManpowerGroup Solutions.
The Milwaukee-based global recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) provider surveyed nearly 4,500 job seekers in five influential employment markets around the world (Australia, China, Mexico, the U.S. and the U.K.) in October 2015. The survey covered job search practices and preferences and motivations for choosing jobs and changing jobs.
Nearly six in 10 respondents (56 percent) identified “type of work” as one of the top three factors in choosing a job, overtaking compensation at 54 percent. The results are very similar when looking solely at job seekers from the U.S. (58 percent vs. 57 percent).
“I think a lot of people start their careers with compensation on their mind first and foremost, but will quickly find out that without feeling value in what they do on a daily basis or feeling like they are contributing to something, compensation does not really fill that void,” said Catherine Pylant, global talent acquisition manager at WilsonHCG, an RPO, consulting and executive search firm based in Tampa, Fla. “Enjoying the type of work that one does is really what will get them out of bed in the morning and have them continue to be motivated to go to work every day.”
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