24% of Americans say switching jobs is the best way to boost income. Here’s when to put yourself on the market
By | Carmen Reinicke | www.cnbc.com
Want to make more money? You may want to consider switching jobs.
Some 24% of Americans said that changing jobs is the best way to get a pay boost, according to a recent online survey from MagnifyMoney of nearly 1,000 working adults. In addition, millennials were more likely than their older coworkers to say that jumping to a new position is the best way to increase pay, the report showed.
Wage data supports the idea that switching jobs is indeed one way to boost income. Wage gains for people who have switched jobs have outpaced those who’ve stayed at one employer since 2011, according to the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank’s wage growth tracker, which uses data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The gap between job switchers and stayers has widened in recent months. In June, the 12-month moving average of wage gains for those who switched jobs was 3.8%, while those who stayed saw 3.1% growth. In September, the 12-month moving average for job switchers jumped to 4.3%, while gains for job stayers increased slightly to 3.2%.
“This is usually the case outside of the current environment,” said Brett Ryan, senior U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank. “Job switchers do well — you’re not going to move unless you’re getting paid more.”
People want higher-paying jobs
Workers are taking note of rising wages and using this moment to go for jobs that would mean a bigger paycheck.