87% of executives want to change companies
According to a survey by Robert Walters of 1,700 executives*, 87% of executives would have considered resigning in 2022. And 71% are thinking about it for the next two years. In short, the executives would be on the move! At least on paper.
Because obviously, even if the job market is very favorable to them (a “candidate market” as recruiters say), it is always easier said than done. Those who take action usually do so fairly quickly:
- a quarter of executives left their company within two years of joining.
- 12% have not even completed their trial period.
“Quick mobility”
Why this phenomenon of “quick mobility”, of express external mobility in good French? Because they have often been oversold. And once in the place, the grass was not so green after all.
Testimony of Noémie who shortened her trial period:
I signed for a position in the comex and the recruitment of a team. Six months after my arrival, I was still refused entry to the comex, I had only been able to recruit one person. My position had been completely stripped. All the carrier subjects had been picked up by other collaborators already in post. On a daily basis, I didn’t have much to do and above all I avoided the low blows of each other. I haven’t completed my trial period.
Noémie, director of innovation in the pharmaceutical sector
Executives sometimes make express passages on certain positions, because they quickly have an even more attractive job offer (or even several), particularly in terms of responsibilities but also remuneration.
CSR remains an important criterion but less so than compensation
Remuneration remains the sinews of war for executives. So ok, the Robert Walters study points out that “84% of executives have rethought their relationship to work during the year, more attentive to their professional/personal life balance and increasingly attentive to the meaning of their mission”. And finally, for almost three quarters of executives, CSR issues are becoming a determining factor in the attractiveness of a company. Nevertheless, all these new aspirations do not yet supplant the FIRST criterion of satisfaction (and therefore of dissatisfaction): their REMUNERATION.
To earn more, quitting is the winning tactic
43% of executives who quit in the last 12 months did so because of their salary. “Encouraged” by the inflationary context, 71% of executives also plan to ask for a raise.
“6 out of 10 say they are ready to quit their job if their increase is not higher than inflation,” the authors of the study point out. Let them prepare their boxes! The firm Robert Walters estimates that in 2023, executive salaries should increase by… 4%. So well below inflation (6.5%).
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Changing companies brings back +17% on average
To earn more, there is no choice but to change dairies. In this case, the wage gap may be 17% on the fixed salary. “When they apply, the candidates generally add their old fixed and variable part to make it the basis of negotiation of their future fixed”, observes Coralie Rachet, managing director of Robert Walters France. And often for them, this amount is basically non-negotiable. Except that employers will not always be able to match their demands in terms of a fixed salary.
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Leaving Paris lowers the salary less and less
According to the Robert Walters survey, 70% of executives who left the Paris region for a job in the region did not lose salary. The rule which wanted an executive to lose 10 to 15% of salary when leaving the capital seems to have some lead in the wing. No doubt because of the difficulties that companies, including in the regions, have in recruiting profiles that are becoming rare, they prefer to accept Parisian salary levels. But what about the salaries of the executives already present in these companies?
Employers forced to innovate to meet candidates’ salary expectations
Not always able to pay cash (fixed) their new recruits, employers must still reassure them. “To avoid unbalancing the internal salary grids and limit the risk-taking of candidates leaving their jobs, employers grant welcome bonuses. Up to six months salary for senior executives”notes Olivia Jacob, senior manager of the Robert Walters IT practice.
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In addition to flexibility, training, QVT elements… companies also offer “step increases”. Namely, of multi-year increase plans. “This measure allows employees to project themselves better, and the company to retain them. Thus in 2023, 90% of employers plan to grant salary reviews, at least twice a year,” explains Coralie Rachet. Unfortunately, the study does not detail the level of these repeated individual increases. Will the overall envelope be broken down into several tranches? Or will it be amounts reassessed at each step? To be continued.