Survey Shows 42 Percent of Workers Change Industries for New Positions

According to a survey from Right Management polling 7,000 North American workers, 42 percent of job seekers chose to change industries this year in order to land a new position. A further 40 percent chose to change job functions for a new position.

“It’s no surprise that so many people are able to change industries, since many competencies or skills are readily transferable, particularly for people from functions such as IT, finance, marketing and human resources,” said Monika Morrow, senior vice-president of career management at Right Management. “That so many seem to switch job function is more surprising.”

Industry-wise, manufacturing, energy, IT, automotive, and finance sectors all experienced hiring increases in 2012.

“For some organizations in these sectors, they are simultaneously divesting one part of their business while focusing on growing another, so there are also opportunities for redeployment within the same firm to move from one function to another,” Morrow said. “Companies are helping employees with training to enable them to up skill or reskill to enable them move to another part of the business.”

Morrow goes on to suggest that the change in industry or function in order to change jobs may also rely on professional career transition assistance: “This involves developing a job search strategy, exploring less obvious sectors or opportunities as well as coaching on how to be positioned for a job that may be a bit of a stretch, and specific skill development to credential or qualify candidates to be able to make a switch. Without such experienced support most people won’t venture far from what they’re familiar with, but flexibility is increasingly the name of the game for a successful job seeker.”