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Thirty-five Percent of Workers Plan to Find a New Job in 2003, According to New CareerBuilder.com Survey

Workers Cite Dissatisfaction with Lack of Career Advancement Opportunities and Pay as Reasons to Look for a New Job

CHICAGO, Dec. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Adding to their list of New Year's resolutions, 35 percent of workers plan to change jobs in 2003, according to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey. Thirty-two percent of workers rated their prospects for finding a job as strong next year. The key issues motivating workers to change jobs included a lack of career advancement opportunities with their current employer, dissatisfaction with pay, lack of job security and overall dissatisfaction with their jobs. Completed earlier this month, The Survey included more than 2,200 hourly and salaried workers.

The majority of the workers planning to change jobs in 2003 were dissatisfied with their job for a variety of reasons. Of those planning to change jobs, 59 percent were dissatisfied with opportunities for career advancement with their current employer. Fifty-eight percent of these workers who plan to change jobs were dissatisfied with their pay. Half of these workers also stated that they worked under a great deal of stress, and overall, 38 percent of these workers planning to change jobs next year were dissatisfied with their jobs in general.

"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. "But, despite their dissatisfaction with their jobs, 47 percent of workers still felt that they were maintaining a balance of work and life. On a more positive note, five-in-ten workers were satisfied with the experience that they are getting on the job."

Job security is also an issue for those planning to change jobs. Fifty percent of these workers felt that they did have job security. Asked to compare the levels of job security in 2002 versus 2001, 36 percent felt that they had less job security this year. In addition, 73 percent of these workers reported that they worked under a slight or constant threat of layoff.

"Companies can help reduce the rate of employee turnover by providing workers with pay commensurate with experience, furnishing a career path with advancement opportunities and addressing sources of stress on the job," continued Haden. "And, now is the time for employers to also identify the best candidates, both internally and externally, available to consider for their own open positions."

Haden offered the following tips for employers to help workers cope on the job:
* Listen and be responsive to the concerns of workers.
* Help employees understand the priorities of your organization and why.
* Conduct and follow through on internal surveys to identify workers' opinions and attitudes.
* Provide non-monetary retention tools such as training, education and certification.
* Develop and identify avenues for career advancement with the organization.
* Implement and maintain an employee recognition program.

The Survey
The CareerBuilder.com survey, "On the Job 2002," was conducted from October 23 to December 5, 2002 of more than 2,200 survey respondents, including hourly and salaried workers. To collect data for The Survey, CareerBuilder.com commissioned SurveySite to use an e-mail methodology whereby individuals who are members of The Survey Site Web Panel were randomly selected and approached by e-mail invitation to participate in the online survey. The results of this survey are accurate within +/- 2.0 percent (19 times out of 20).

About CareerBuilder
CareerBuilder is a leading online source for maximizing recruitment dollars and optimizing job searches with superior products, customer service and technology. With a unique combination of national, local and niche audiences, CareerBuilder makes it easy for recruiters to reach the most qualified candidates with industry-leading market research data and support. Job seekers can search for the right job from more than 400,000 continuously updated postings, representing more than 25,000 of the top employers in virtually every industry, field and location. Together with Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE: TRB), and Knight Ridder, Inc. (NYSE: KRI), CareerBuilder includes the Web's top newspaper sites - the most trusted employment sources in recruiting. For more information About CareerBuilder products and services, call 888-670-TEAM or visit CareerBuilder at http://www.careerbuilder.com.

CareerBuilder Media Contact
For all media inquiries and interview requests, contact:

Jennifer Grasz
(P) 773-527-1164
(E) jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com