Top Work-Related Resolutions for 2014 Include: Pay Raises, New Job Searches & Leadership Skill Development

Employees' Top Career Resolutions in 2014 include getting a pay raise, looking for a new job and using all vacation days earned. Click here for high-resolution version · Marketwired

SAUSALITO, CA--(Marketwired - Jan 10, 2014) - Approximately one in three employees1 (32 percent) report pay raises to be among their top work-related resolutions for 2014, according to the Glassdoor Q4 2013 Employment Confidence Survey.2 Looking for a new job (22 percent) and developing leadership skills (20 percent) are also among the top work-related resolutions for the year. Other top resolutions for the New Year focus on personal improvement and welfare, including one in five (20 percent) employees reporting they plan to take or use all the vacation days they have earned, up seven percentage points from the year prior. In addition, nearly one in five (19 percent) say they want to attend work-related training, up three percentage points from last year. Managers may also want to beware, as three percent of employees admit they want to help get their boss or supervisor fired in 2014.

This quarter's survey asked employees, including those self-employed, about their job search expectations over the next three years, assuming the economy stays the same or improves. Nearly one in five (17 percent) employees say they would consider looking for a new job in the next three months, approximately one in three (32 percent) say they will consider job hunting in less than a year, seven percent say in the next one to two years and six percent say three or more years.

"Employees are beginning to feel more sure-footed in the economy and the job market, and in turn are hopeful and more confident about their chances of seeing their compensation rise. They are also feeling less fearful and are looking forward to taking a breather and taking time out to go on vacation," said Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor career and workplace expert. "If economic and business news continue to show signs of furthering stability, we will undoubtedly begin to see greater employee confidence, which will in turn catalyze more movement within the employment pool."

The Glassdoor survey, conducted online by Harris Interactive, evaluates four key indicators of employee confidence each quarter: business outlook optimism, salary expectations, job security, and job market optimism/re-hire probability.

Employee optimism around their company's business outlook has steadied over the past few years. According to survey results, nearly one in two employees (48 percent), including those self-employed, expect their company's business outlook to stay the same in the next six months, while 42 percent expect their company's business outlook to improve, up two percentage points since last quarter, and ten percent expect it to get worse.