Survey: 76% of retail workers looking for career change

Two-thirds of job seekers look into the financial health of a company before accepting a position.

A majority of workers – and especially those in retail – are looking to make a career change.

Fifty-five percent of job candidates are looking to make a career or industry switch this year, according to a new report from talent assessment platform Criteria. This figure jumps to 76% for those in the retail field, marking the highest category where workers are looking for a change. Construction (61%), healthcare (57%) and professional services (57%) are not far behind.

When asked what the biggest challenges when searching for a job across all labor categories were, competition being too high (45%) was the top reason. This figure (45%) stayed the same for those in the retail field. Job descriptions having unreasonable requirements (30%) and not enough relevant jobs to apply for (30%) were the next most common challenges for all workers.

[READ MORE: Workers retiring, insufficient training to put pressure on retail workforce]

Another challenge that job seekers have faced in the hiring process is “ghosting,” or being ignored by a recruiter. Nearly half (48%) of job candidates report being ghosted in the last year during the job search process. This is an increase from last year, when 38% of job candidates reported being ghosted.