We don’t just work to make money or have something to do or to fill up our days. We also work to get ahead. Workers tend to feel stagnant when they don’t see the possibility of real advancement up the road. Companies would do well to stoke their employees with that kind of hopeful encouragement, but it seems the longer an employee stays at a company, the less they feel any excitement over potential advancement.
This information comes from the latest reading of an ongoing study by Comparably. Over 10,000 respondents answered our query.
More than half of respondents said they felt their company offered them healthy opportuniuties for advancement. Female respondents not only agreed with men, they outvoted them by one percentage point.
When segmented by minorities, African-Americans answered yes more often than any group at 60%. The Hispanic/Latino segment and the Asian/Pacific Islanders both voted a few points higher than average.
Executives, who have presumably already done a lot of career advancing, most often reported (73%) that their company offered them meaningful advancement options. Those in IT (45%), Admin (46%), and Operations (51%) reported the opposite.
Younger workers reported good opportunities available to them most frequently, with the 18-25 year olds reporting in the affirmative in the low 60s. That number drops steadily with age, hitting bottom with 50-60 year olds, who answered “yes” at a rate lower than 40%. It may naturally be true that those in their later career have less interest in advancement.
Similarly, the less experience in the workplace, the more opportunities our respondents sensed. Again, with experience, that number drops, also implying a decreasing need for career advancement as we age. Offers of advancement may also dry up the longer we stagnate at a company.
Latest reading as of February 28.
