The Mid-Career Talent Crisis and How to Avoid It

Hiring sucks right now. The Great Resignation is in full swing, and Mid-Career Talent are the most likely to switch jobs. Employers must accept this fact and also adapt and address the concerns of their employees. Here's how to avoid it:

The Great Resignation has had very disruptive effects on essentially every professional services firm around the world. In February of 2022 6.1 million employees quit their jobs, just in the United States alone (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022). 

Research shows that of those 6.1 million, workers 30-45 years of age make up a majority of those resignations. Most of those people are considered being in the mid-career segment, which have job titles such as Manager, Sr. Manager, or Project Lead/Manager.

There was a study published earlier this year by Hinge Research Institute that explains what the mid-career talent crisis is, as well as how to navigate through it. We’re going to break down the study into easy-to-digest terms, while also highlighting the most important parts from the article.

 

Before we get deeper into the article, we feel it’s important to answer the obvious questions: 

What is the mid-career talent crisis?

The mid-career talent crisis stems from The Great Resignation. We all know that people have been really willing to quit/switch jobs since the pandemic started, but mid-career level employees were significantly more likely to have quit their job, or switched their job compared to their Leadership and Senior Executives. 

 

Why does this matter to me?

Great question. We have few thoughts on this one, so this is the first. This research, along with research from other sources shows that the Great Resignation is being led by the mid-career level employees. You, as an employer, must accept this fact while also adapting and addressing concerns. 

Mid-career staff is often the key to whether a business is successful or not, so retain your valuable talent.

 

Who was involved in this study?

248 people total participated in this study. The researchers broke their participants up into three groups based on their job titles: 91 participants were mid-career level (i.e., Manager, Sr. Manager, Project Lead/Manager), 105 of them were leadership, and 88 of them were senior executive level.

Every participant works in a professional services industry (i.e. Accounting & Finance, Construction, HR/Staffing, Engineering, etc.)

 

What did the study find?

To reiterate a big finding from earlier, mid-career level employees were significantly more likely to have quit their job, or switched their job compared to their Leadership and Senior Executives. 

They also found that nearly a third of the mid-career employees are quitting without having an offer from another company, and 46% of them are passively seeking jobs (i.e., currently employed, but could be interested in a new opportunity.

 

So really, why does this matter to me?

Retaining your employees is a helluva lot easier, and cheaper, than replacing them because they don’t like your management style, or the culture in the office, or whatever concerns they have. You need to address the concerns of your mid-career talent with your mid-career talent before they leave.

This study showed that a high percentage of your middle management will leave or consider leaving this year. Many of them will do it because they want a better company culture. 

 

Have you done anything to minimize your risk of losing these employees?

Ways to improve your company culture could include:

  • In-person work related social events
  • Mental health days
  • Employee Shout Outs
  • Add on a feedback portal
  • Health and wellness credit
  • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) programs

When thinking about how to reduce your risk of losing your mid-career employees, don’t underestimate the power of mental health or DEI programs. People are more stressed than ever, and mental health is equally as important as physical health.

If you aren’t sure how to counteract the Great Resignation, we’ve got you covered. You can download our free eBook that explains the causes of the great resignation, as well as how your company can respond to the times.

Get your FREE eBook here!