Survey: Employees ready to walk

A raft of dissatisfied employees may mean an increase in job-hopping next year, according to a study released Monday from recruiting Web site CareerBuilder.com.

Based on an online survey of 2,200 hourly and salaried workers, CareerBuilder.com found that 35 percent of respondents plan to change jobs in 2003. General unhappiness with their situation at work--including poor prospects for career advancement, lack of job security and low pay--appear to be motivating people to move on from their current employers, according to the survey.

On top of complaints about compensation and advancement opportunities, 50 percent of the people planning to change jobs said they worked under a great deal of stress. Overall, 38 percent of job seekers were dissatisfied with their current positions.

"It is not surprising that a considerable amount of workers are planning to make a change to find a better job in 2003," said Dawn Haden, senior career expert at CareerBuilder, in a statement. "On a more positive note, five in 10 workers were satisfied with the experience that they are getting on the job."

The downbeat economic environment is taking its toll on workers' attitudes toward long-term employment, CareerBuilder.com said. Half of the workers planning to seek new employment said they didn't have job security, with 36 percent of those workers saying that they have less job security in 2002 than they had in 2001.