In an encouraging sign for Singapore’s job hoppers research commissioned by specialised recruiter Robert Half reveals Singapore’s CFOs consider someone who has made an average of four job changes within a 10-year period to be a job hopper, and more than half (56 per cent) would be willing to hire a candidate who has a history of job hopping.
Job hopping is overwhelmingly more prevalent among Singapore’s millennials as almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of Singaporean CFOs think millennial-aged finance workers are job hoppers. This compares to more than one in three (39 per cent) CFOs who think Singapore’s Generation X workers in finance and accounting are job hoppers and one in four (25 per cent) who consider Baby Boomer professionals to be job hoppers.
While many employment changes in a short time span can give hiring managers cause for concern, Singaporean employers understand there are also advantages linked to changing jobs frequently. The positive consequences of job hopping for employees, as identified by Singaporean CFOs, include: higher salary progression (64 per cent), more experience in different industries (43 per cent), ability to learn faster (35 per cent), resilience to change (32 per cent) and learning more skills (31 per cent).
Matthieu Imbert-Bouchard, managing director of Robert Half Singapore said: “Despite previous negative stereotypes around job hoppers in the finance and accounting industry, Singapore’s employers have become much more accepting of candidates who have had numerous jobs over the past few years. There is definitely a generational shift as it is more common for millennial-aged workers to be inclined towards changing jobs more frequently than their Generation X and Baby Boomer colleagues, with the practice slowly losing its negative stigma.”
Yet switching employment on a regular basis can also have significant downfalls. Professionals who frequently change jobs should not disregard the potential pitfalls, with the negative consequences of job hoppers, as identified by CFOs, being: missing out on promotions (43 per cent), lack of job security (43 per cent), missing out on professional development (39 per cent), missing out on job opportunities (39 per cent), and less influence on company strategy/policy (33 per cent).
“Despite the fact that job hopping has become more common in the finance and accounting industry, hiring managers should still be cautious when considering job hoppers for a vacant role. Frequent employment changes over a short span of time can raise red flags, and potentially earn the employee a reputation for being disloyal. Employers need to balance the costs of the recruitment process against a candidate who may be seen as disloyal and end up leaving after a short period of time. This doesn’t suggest that job hopping should be disregarded entirely, but like any career move, changing jobs must have happened for the right reason,” concluded Matthieu Imbert-Bouchard.
