New Yoh Survey Shows 73% of Americans Who Were Employed In The Past Year Admit They Did Not Grow Professionally During That Time

The COVID-19 Pandemic Posed New Challenges in the Workplace, But Employees Also Found New Ways to Be More Flexible and Adaptable in 2020

PHILADELPHIA, March 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a new Yoh survey, nearly 3 in 4 (73 percent) of Americans who were employed in the past year say they have not grown professionally during that time. The survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of Yoh, a leading international talent and outsourcing company and part of Day & Zimmermann, among over 1,300 U.S. adults who were employed in the past year.

While 2020 posed new obstacles in the workplace such as stunting professional growth, the news wasn’t all negative. In fact, 76 percent of Americans who were employed in the past year report they did not find it a challenge to do their job at the same level as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, nearly 2 in 5 (39 percent) of those who were employed say they have found new ways to be more flexible and adaptable to their job in the past year.

“2020 presented organizations and their employees with a new onset of challenges, but the resiliency of Americans to adapt to the changes and continue to perform their jobs at the same level is extremely commendable,” said Emmett McGrath, President of Yoh. “Now, as the world moves closer to a slow return to normal, it is crucial for managers to recognize their teams’ efforts and begin to reevaluate their teams for talent gaps so they can continue to maintain the level of skill needed to succeed in the post-COVID world.”

Among the skill-building tactics Americans who were employed in the past year accomplished in 2020, the results found that:

• Nearly 2 in 5 (39 percent) say they have found new ways to be more flexible and adaptable in their job during the past year.

• Over 3 in 4 (76 percent) say they have not found it a challenge to do their job at the same level during the past year as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 36 percent of those aged 18-34 say they have grown professionally. That is the highest rating of all the age groups (vs. 25 percent aged 35-54, 19 percent aged 55-64, and 15 percent aged 65+), indicating younger professionals are more likely to have experienced growth in their careers in the past year.

• 33 percent of college graduates say they have added new skills to their professional repertoire during the past year. Those with a college education are more likely to indicate they learned new professional skills in the past year compared to those with lower levels of education (vs. 22 percent with some college and 21 percent with high school or less education).

Among the biggest challenges Americans who were employed in the past year faced professionally in 2020, results found that:

• Only 27 percent grew professionally during that time.

• Roughly 1 in 4 (24 percent) say they have found it a challenge to do their job at the same level they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 44 percent of those with household incomes of $100K+ say they have found ways to be more flexible and adaptable in their jobs during the past year. Those with higher household incomes were more likely to say they found ways to be more flexible and adaptable in their jobs compared to Americans with lower household incomes (vs. 32 percent with household income less than $50k).
  

To learn more about the results of the survey, visit www.yoh.com.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Yoh from January 28 – February 1, 2021 among 2,051 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, among whom 1,396 have been employed in the past year. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Joe McIntyre at joe@gobraithwaite.com.

ABOUT YOH
For more than 75 years, Yoh has provided the talent needed for the jobs and projects critical to our clients’ success. Our Specialty Practices recruiting experts find high-impact professionals in Engineering, Health Care, Life Sciences, Information Technology, Interactive Entertainment and Telecommunications. For clients with workforce management needs, our DZConneX Total Talent Solutions offering delivers large-scale workforce solutions, including Managed Services, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Direct Sourcing, and Advisory and Consulting Services. Yoh is part of Day & Zimmermann, a $2.4 Billion USD services company, and benefits from more than 100 years of Day & Zimmermann’s experience managing and solving complex talent challenges for some of the world’s leading companies, For more information, visit www.yoh.com.

Media Contact
Joe McIntyre
(215) 564-3200 ext. 112
joe@gobraithwaite.com