Almost one in four (24 percent) workers in the UK plan to leave their jobs within the short term – a one percent increase from last year.
This sustained workplace attrition is identified by international research from Culture Amp, an employee experience and performance management platform, which also finds that a further 14 percent will be seeking new employment within two years, through to 2027.
Culture Amp’s findings – based on 1.4 billion responses to 97 million surveys from 8,200 global companies (816 of them in the UK) – reflect similar trends worldwide.
Germany is the global hotspot for short term attrition with 25 percent of employees planning to resign within 12 months.
Meanwhile the US shows the strongest long-term job stability with just nine percent of workers intending to change employers by 2027.
Globally, one in five people worldwide (20 percent) are planning to leave within the next 12 months (one percent higher from last year), with 41 percent citing career growth as the primary reason for leaving.
This is followed by work-life balance (12 percent) and compensation / benefits (10 percent).
Across workforce generations, most employees are unified by one dominant reason for leaving their jobs: the pursuit of growth. Gen Z (24 percent), Millennials (28 percent), and Gen X (25 percent), all cite a desire for career advancement as the biggest catalyst for looking elsewhere.
Reflecting how many are still finding their way in the workforce, it’s perhaps unsurprising that a change of career (17 percent) is the next biggest factor for Gen Z moving on. For Millennials, compensation and benefits (14 percent) and work–life balance (11 percent) are key motivators to leave, while for Gen X work–life balance (13 percent) and compensation and benefits (12 percent) are prioritised slightly differently.
Boomers, on the other hand, are predominantly leaving for personal reasons (27 percent) – most likely a reflection of looming retirement or scaling back work – followed by work–life balance (16 percent) and career growth (13 percent).
“Employee growth has been a consistent factor in intent to stay, and in this challenging macro-economic climate when organisations are looking to run as lean as possible; development and opportunity are not always top of companies‘ minds,” says Jessica Brannigan, head of enterprise people science, EMEA at Culture Amp.
“When employees across the UK are not satisfied by development opportunities on offer, organisations must consider how to engage and challenge top talent, without allowing stasis or complacency to creep in.”
“Herein lies the challenge for organisations; if promotions are not readily available – career development and opportunity may need to take a more creative form. Organisations who identify top talent, and ensure they are getting skills building, interesting work, and access to leadership will likely retain their people”.
Justin Angsuwat, Chief People Officer at Culture Amp adds, “As we head into 2026, there are interesting signals we need to grapple with. In Germany and the UK in particular, the short-term attrition risk levels should make leadership teams pause.
“But the story behind the numbers is just as important. Employees who feel like they’re developing are significantly more likely to become high performers a year later, but many organisations still treat mobility as a luxury, rather than a retention strategy. If we want people to stay, we need to make growth feel real, even when promotions are tight.
“What this means is managers who can coach and develop employees more frequently are going to lead more successful teams. And leaders who can stabilise workloads, create clarity and pathways for growth will come out on top in 2026.”
