• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
Successtalent acquisition, retention, management

Most new hires start job searching again within three months, survey finds

By
Jane Thier
Jane Thier
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jane Thier
Jane Thier
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 4, 2022, 8:00 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

It’s the worst-case scenario: After months of searching for a job, you find one that sounds like the perfect fit. You have the requisite qualifications, make it past the interview round, and get an offer—only to start work and find it’s nothing like you imagined. 

How long do you stick it out before starting to look elsewhere? It may depend on how bad the job is. But by and large, the question of how long to stay at a job you’re not crazy about seems continually up for debate.

In an April survey by Lattice, an employee management software platform, more than half (52%) of respondents who have been at their job for three months or less said they are actively trying to leave. For folks in a job for between three and six months, that figure jumped to 59%.

Across the board, of the 2,000 U.S.-based respondents, nearly three-quarters (74%) said they would be open to leaving their current role—regardless of how long they’ve been there—in the next six to 12 months. In last year’s installment of the survey, only 47% said the same.

Some act beyond just looking—and fast. In a survey of millennial and Gen Z jobseekers earlier this year by career site The Muse, one in five said they would quit a job in less than a month if it were dramatically different from what was advertised. Another 41% would give it two to six months, and less than a quarter (24%) would stick it out a full year.

As with most job-related trends, this one skews strongly young. Only 23% of baby boomers, 33% of Gen Xers, and 41% of elder millennials (aged 35 through 44) said they’re job-hunting—unlike Gen Zers, three in five of whom are looking, and younger millennials at 59%. 

No two job seekers are alike, and hiring managers can’t expect them to all value the same things. The contrast between generations is stark. For example, nearly half (44%) of younger millennials say mentorship opportunities are extremely important—but just 18% of baby boomers agree. Meanwhile, Gen Zers and millennials called “sense of belonging” a key factor in their job search at almost double the rate of baby boomers. 

“Younger workers are really looking for a sense of belonging in the onboarding process, especially with so many hybrid or fully remote roles,” Dave Carhart, Lattice’s vice president of people, tells Fortune. “Everything companies can do to really support new hires and help them make connections will be particularly important.”

“Anecdotally, we [had] certainly heard about attrition risk among folks newer in their jobs,” Carhart adds. “The extent of it still surprised me.”

Employers have worked extra hard to hire people during what Carhart calls the “great reshuffling.” Even so, he adds, “it’s clear you really can’t assume the work is done when someone starts.” 

Often, new employees are likelier to leave than more tenured folks who have invested the time and effort into their employer.

“Particularly in such an active market, new workers realize there’s not a need to stick it out for 12 or 18 months in a job that’s not meeting their needs or expectations,” Carhart says.

When he started his career as a recruiter in the mid-2000s, Carhart says he and his coworkers would “really screen folks” on their job-hopping habits and how long they stayed in one place. No longer. 

“Historically, people have needed to worry about looking like a job hopper when they had a pattern of leaving jobs quickly,” Alison Green, hiring and management expert behind the Ask a Manager blog, tells Fortune. 

What counts as “quickly” varies widely by field. In some roles, like service work or a consulting project, it might be anything under a year. In others, like marketing or engineering, the expectation is at least two or three years. 

But in today’s white-hot job market, all those old rules are out the window, Green says. Even without market forces, the pandemic has completely inverted prior norms.

“There’s a lot more understanding that you might have left because your employer was mishandling the pandemic or because they’re stuck in outdated practices around remote work,” she says. “There’s so much churn going on right now—and so much power on the workers’ side that hasn’t been there traditionally—that [prospective] employers are much more willing to overlook short stays than they might have been previously.”

Sign up for the Fortune Features email list so you don’t miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews, and investigations.
About the Author
By Jane Thier
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Success

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Success

$5 billion tech CEO says unemployed Gen Z should be out 3 days a week building their network: ‘Sometimes those jobs you want, they’re never published’
SuccessCareers
$5 billion tech CEO says unemployed Gen Z should be out 3 days a week building their network: ‘Sometimes those jobs you want, they’re never published’
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 21, 2026
22 minutes ago
Three women chop their way into the record books at Lumberjack World Championships
North AmericaWisconsin
Three women chop their way into the record books at Lumberjack World Championships
By The Associated Press and Ellen SchmidtJuly 20, 2026
10 hours ago
LaLiga president says tech is already making the fan experience better, and it could solve football’s money problem too
AISports
LaLiga president says tech is already making the fan experience better, and it could solve football’s money problem too
By Catherina GioinoJuly 20, 2026
11 hours ago
Mark Cuban, in front of a purple background, has his mouth open and is looking to his left.
Successcompensation
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it’s to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
14 hours ago
Ferran Torres
SuccessWorld Cup
Spain’s Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in the World Cup—but just four years ago, he was in therapy and stuck in a ‘bottomless pit’
By Emma BurleighJuly 20, 2026
16 hours ago
Christopher Nolan wearing a black suit
SuccessCareers
Christopher Nolan was rejected from film school as a teen. Today, the Oscar-winning director behind  ‘The Odyssey’ is worth $250 million
By Preston ForeJuly 20, 2026
16 hours ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
14 hours ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
18 hours ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
2 days ago
Warren Buffett says his $147 billion investing career was an accident: ‘I may be one of the 10 luckiest in the world’
Future of Work
Warren Buffett says his $147 billion investing career was an accident: ‘I may be one of the 10 luckiest in the world’
By Sarah GlodekJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, July 20, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, July 20, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 20, 2026
22 hours ago
It’s not just Taco Bell lettuce and possible glass in Pillsbury rolls: Food and drink recall events reached a 6-year year-over-year high
Retail
It’s not just Taco Bell lettuce and possible glass in Pillsbury rolls: Food and drink recall events reached a 6-year year-over-year high
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
22 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.