How Long Should You Stay in The Same Job?

Job For Life?

 According to life insurance firm London Victoria, UK workers will stay in the same job for an average of five years.  But is there a ‘right’ amount of time to stay in the same job without progression?

Claire McCartney, adviser for the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, believes there is no ‘right’ time to look for a new challenge -

"It's very specific to the person. It depends on their career plans, assuming they have any career plans and whether they feel they get the right amount of challenge and flexibility," she says.

Ms McCartney does believe that only spending, say, three months in one role wouldn’t look good, unless it was backed by a change in personal circumstance.

‘Millennials’, those born between 1980 and 1999, have very different expectations about jobs.

Several surveys suggest that these younger workers aren't motivated by the same factors as previous generations, such as a job for life, but instead value a good work-life balance and a sense of purpose beyond financial success.

According to the CIPD's latest Employee Outlook survey which polled 2,000 UK employees, almost a quarter of employed people are currently looking for new roles.