Eight in 10 HR professionals report their greatest difficulty is finding candidates with the right skills. Not tech skills or AI know-how — they’re talking about communication, judgment, decision making, complex problem solving, and time management.

That said, even though the pay incentive to job-hop is reigniting, many workers are remaining on the sidelines. 

“While we are starting to see more of a premium come back for workers who are willing to hop jobs, and it has widened quite significantly over the last three months, it has not translated yet into an uptick in people doing that, which is still exceedingly low,” KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk told Yahoo Finance,  

Despite the growing premium for job changers, so far there hasn’t been a corresponding increase in the quits rate, according to the Labor Department’s monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, she added. “So it is still not enough to really get a lot of workers to move yet.”

That said, how people feel about the job market overall is improving, the New York Fed recently found, which could be a sign that they’re poised to make the leap to another company for a fatter paycheck.

That’s an upbeat sign, per Swonk and other economists. 

“To me, that sense that you have the ability to change jobs indicates that there’s underlying confidence, and that’s good,” Bowley said.

Pay is only one factor

When you’re a job shifter, it’s not always about the money.

It’s important to “understand why you are eyeing a job jump in the first place,” career coach Aileen Axtmayer told Yahoo Finance. 

People tend to look for a new job for a plethora of reasons amid the day-in and day-out at their current company.

“For many of my clients, it’s that feeling of being undervalued by their employer that shows up in not being promoted, or given opportunities to expand their scope, or take on more meaningful work, or they don’t see a path for growth where they are,” she said.

Axtmayer’s advice for job seekers: “Being underpaid, or not compensated in alignment with market value, is certainly an important factor, and a meaningful pay bump can absolutely be part of a compelling reason to make a move,” she said. “But I wouldn’t advise someone to make a transition decision based on salary alone. Compensation is only one signal that it’s time to look for something new.”

Culture and manager fit, opportunities for growth, flexibility, benefits, commute, and the nature of the job itself should all be part of the decision. 

“With return-to-office mandates changing the flexibility equation for so many employees, that can also be a particularly significant consideration right now,” Axtmayer said.

If you land an opportunity where those other factors align with what you’re looking for and the organization is willing to compensate you at a higher level, there can be a longer-term benefit to the pay bump, she added.

“A move can effectively reset your market value and establish a higher compensation baseline for future opportunities and negotiations, particularly for someone who has been underpaid relative to their experience or contributions,” she said.

Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including “Retirement Bites: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future,” “In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work,” and “Never Too Old to Get Rich.” Follow her on Bluesky and X.

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