To Shift or Not to Shift: How to know if your current job isn’t working for you anymore

With the emergence of the Great Resignation, more and more workers’ spirits are being strengthened as the power balance shifts from the employers to the employees. As the COVID-19 pandemic has made companies learn to treat their employees and talents better, the trends in the labor market for 2022 point towards a multitude of employees shifting or resigning from their current jobs.

According to a 2021 survey by Harris Poll for Fast Company, 52% of middle-income workers in the US plan to change jobs after the pandemic. Moreover, Zippia’s and GoRemotely‘s general research in career change statistics showcases that an average person changes jobs 12-15 times in their lifetime. This data shows that job shifts and resignations are expected, and it is well within your rights as a worker to seek out greener pastures.

With this in mind, how do you know when it’s time for YOU to pack up your things and leave your current job? How do you arrive at the sound judgment that your job no longer serves your best interests? For most of us, the thought of letting go of a job we have been committed to for some time can be scary, but when you start to experience doubts, it’s time to think twice!

READ: How To Conduct a Successful Career Change During the Pandemic

Whether you’re looking for a career shift, higher salary opportunities, or simply not finding your job satisfying anymore, there are symptoms to look out for when it’s finally time to go. Siri, play “50 Ways to Say Goodbye” by Train.

You no longer feel excitement or meaning in your job functions.

Where have the sparks gone?! Sometimes, when you have been doing a job role for so long, the work becomes stagnant, and you feel like you are not being challenged enough. It becomes meaningless, and you may feel like your work is not creating that much of an impact.

Don’t criticize yourself for feeling this way- it’s normal! Even before the pandemic, many disgruntled workers have been feeling this way. According to the World Economic Forum, in a 2013 survey by the Harvard Business Review of 12,000 individual workers, 50% reported that their job felt purposeless and insignificant. It can be hard to feel your role’s impact, especially in a WFH setting where you cannot physically see the bigger picture of what you are doing for the company.

When you start feeling this way, your work becomes a passive process. You start doing things with your brain on auto-pilot as the job becomes another routine for you. You can make mistakes or eventually drive yourself to burnout when this happens. When you reach this point, give your manager an excellent resignation letter, and hasta la vista! Papunta pa lang tayo sa exciting part!

READ: The Only Resignation Letter You’ll Ever Need

You do not feel appreciated or recognized for the work you do.

All employees want to be treated according to the quality of work they do. If you’re doing an exceptional job of doing your tasks, then, of course, you deserve recognition! However, what happens when you don’t get appreciation?

We don’t work for validation, but it is nice to see how our hard work pays off for the company. Sometimes, salaries aren’t enough justification for you to keep doing the work. According to a 2016 survey from Office Team, 66% of employees quit when they don’t receive enough workplace recognition. This number has only risen during the course of the pandemic, with resignations in the US at an all-time high of 4.5 million, according to the 2022 US Bureau of Labour Statistics.

If you feel robbed of the promotions and employee-of-the-year award and have exhausted all options to raise the issue, then suit up because other companies will treat you better! In fact, you might find those very companies right here with Kalibrr, so maybe try signing up after reading this article *wink?

You want to look for job opportunities with more growth and competitive salaries.

If you feel stuck and underpaid, that is a MAJOR symptom of how your current job no longer fits you. The work you do and the compensation you receive must always be balanced, or at least on levels that you find acceptable. Moreover, with the increasing prices of household commodities, utilities, and gas, more employees are looking for jobs with roles that cater to their lifestyles and needs. Gone are the days of scrimping oneself on a minimum wage- in today’s times, these aren’t enough for the modern consumer. Moreover, as you upgrade your expertise and professional skills, you might be on the lookout for a job that suits your increasing market value!

Furthermore, some jobs are being rendered stagnant because of their functions, especially since current advancements in technology make some roles stuck in their growth. If you’re one of those whose job function is in an industry that’s not being improved upon or becoming a dead end due to technology, then it’s time to keep up with the trend and hop onboard jobs born from digital processes. In fact, most of the emerging job careers in 2022 are tech-based innovations, as predicted by the World Economic Forum.

So if you’re in one of those jobs where your career skills, experience, salary, and learnings are not increasing, upgrade your career life.

You do not feel comfortable with the company culture and work environment.

Lastly, one of the most important things to consider when working for a company is how your goals and mission align with theirs. If your inner values do not align or you do not believe in the company’s vision, you will not be an advocate for your own company. If you are an avid animal lover, for example, and yet work for a manufacturing company that tests their products on animals, you will always face an internal conflict. Consider these signs- these doubts are valid reasons, and you should never settle for a job when you know that better opportunities are waiting for you. There will never be a shortage of job opportunities, and indeed, they will be waiting here at Kalibrr, where jobs find you.

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Kalibrr is a recruitment technology company that aims to transform how candidates find jobs and how companies hire talent. Placing the candidate experience at the center of everything it does, we continue to attract the best talent from all over, with more than 5.5 million professionals and counting. Kalibrr ultimately connects these talents to companies in search of their next generation of leaders.

The only end-to-end recruitment solutions provider in Southeast Asia, Kalibrr is headquartered in Makati, Philippines, with offices in San Francisco, California, and Jakarta, Indonesia. Established in 2012, it has served over 18,000 clients and is backed by some of the world’s most powerful start-up incubators and venture capitalists. These include Y Combinator, Omidyar Network, Patamar Capital, Wavemaker Partners, and Kickstart Ventures.

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