What You Do As a Job is the Most Important Decision in Life – REC
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Choosing what job to do is more important than deciding when to start a family, whether to get married, and where to live, according to the results of a survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).
Given a list of ten life decisions that people generally have to make, respondents were asked to select the options they considered to be ‘important’. ‘What to do as a job’ was the most popular, with more than three quarters (77 per cent) of respondents, beating ‘when to start a family’ (73 per cent), ‘where to live’ (64 per cent), ‘whether to enter into marriage or a civil partnership’ (57 per cent), ‘who their friends are’ (37 per cent) and ‘which political party to support’ (28 per cent).
The survey also revealed the factors that are most important when choosing a job.
When selecting from a list of ten options, eight out of ten respondents cited the importance of ‘doing something I enjoy’ (80 per cent). Other factors included ‘salary and benefits’ (81 per cent), ‘work/life balance’ (68 per cent), and ‘location’ (62 per cent).
Asked about what their current job has enabled them to do in life, employed respondents said they had been able to ‘make new friends’ (43 per cent), ‘develop their skillset’ (42 per cent), and ‘work flexible hours’ (39 per cent).
REC chief executive Kevin Green said:
“In recruitment we see every day just how important jobs are to people. The work you do impacts everything else you do in life. Not only does it enable you to earn the money you need to provide for yourself and your family, take a holiday, buy a house - a job also allows you to feel you are part of something.
“We know jobs transform lives and that’s why we want to encourage people to use recruiters whenever they are thinking about their next career move. Having the right job is as about doing something you enjoy, getting a work-life balance, and building relationships.
“We are keen that government and employers recognise the positive work that recruiters do to help businesses find the right people, people find the right job and the UK jobs market to be the best in the world.”
The REC today launches ‘Jobs Transform Lives’, a campaign to raise awareness of the role that recruiters play in helping millions of people in the UK to find the right job every year. For more information visit www.rec.uk.com/transform
Ends
Notes to editors:
- All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,040 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 26th-27th August 2015. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). Respondents were asked three questions:
Q1. Which, if any, of the following do you think are **important** life decisions that people generally have to make? (Please select all that apply)
| Where to live (i.e. the town or area) |
64% |
| What to do as a job |
77% |
| When to start a family |
73% |
| What clothes to wear each day |
6% |
| Which political party to support |
28% |
| Choosing whether or not to make a relationship “official” (e.g. marriage, civil partnership etc.) |
57% |
| Choosing what subjects to study at school/ college/ university |
65% |
| Who their friends are |
37% |
| Choosing to give something up (e.g. smoking, drinking etc.) |
44% |
| Choosing to change their diet (e.g. become vegetarian or vegan, consume less sugar etc.) |
26% |
| None of these |
2% |
| Don’t know |
3% |
Q2. Which, if any, of the following, factors do you think would be **important** to you when choosing a job? (Please select all that apply)
| Location (i.e. town or area) |
62% |
| Opportunities for progression |
53% |
| Salary and benefits |
81% |
| Work/ life balance |
68% |
| Values of the organisation |
38% |
| Office culture |
21% |
| The commute |
52% |
| Doing something I enjoy/ type of work |
80% |
| Knowing the job will challenge me |
33% |
| My colleagues |
35% |
| None of these |
2% |
| Don’t know |
2% |
Q3. Thinking about your current job…Which, if any, of the following has your current job enabled you to do? (Please select all that apply)
| Pursue my passion |
17% |
| Move to a better location |
9% |
| Start a family |
7% |
| Take overseas holidays |
20% |
| Be independent |
28% |
| Develop my skillset |
42% |
| Make new friends |
43% |
| Work flexible hours |
39% |
| Be creative |
18% |
| Build a professional network |
20% |
| None of these |
15% |
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