Fewer Middle Middle-Managers are Looking to Leave their Jobs

Last year, 38 percent of middle-managers said they were looking for a new job. A new Accenture survey shows that only 21 percent are doing so now.

Most people looking to job-hop were hoping for a better job; they weren’t always unhappy with the ones they had. They would leave for better pay or benefits (cited by 52 percent); better conditions or job prospects (14 percent) and better training and development opportunities (13 percent). Only 3 percent said they would leave because of their bosses, bucking the conventional wisdom that “people leave managers, not companies.”

One area they weren’t happy about: flexibility. Only 37 percent of managers said that their companies managed flexible work arrangements, such as working from home, extremely well or very well.

The survey was part of an ICR/International Communications Research study conducted in the United States by telephone in July 2004; 217 full-time workers who consider themselves to be middle managers were surveyed.

More on retention is available online.