'The Big Stay': Less than 1 in 5 tech employees want to quit in 2024

Less than one in five tech employees in Australia plan to leave their organisations this year, a sign that the so-called "The Big Stay" is arriving Down Under.

HiBob's latest survey among 1,000 Australian tech professionals aged 20 to 30 revealed that only 18% will be looking for a new job this year.

This comes as 96% of young Aussie tech workers expressed their satisfaction for their current roles, and 74% saying their work reaches or exceeds their expectations.

Damien Andreasen, APJ vice president at HiBob, said their findings indicate that young tech professionals are "optimistic" this year despite a softening labour market.

"This increased job satisfaction, combined with the cooling job market, has created the perfect storm for 'The Big Stay' to hit Aussie shores," Andreasen said in a statement.

"Employers looking to attract top talent will need to reassess their strategies to ensure they are providing the right incentives — surprisingly, more responsibilities and management opportunities beat out a better compensation package as the top reason new opportunities are explored."

What's affecting job satisfaction?

According to the report, more than half of the respondents (57%) said the feeling that they're trusted to do their work is the biggest contributor to their current job satisfaction.

But the findings also indicated that job satisfaction is also influenced by their environment instead of the job itself.

Respondents mentioned their team (51%) and their manager (43%) as one of the things that they liked about their job, according to the report. Only 31% said their role was what they liked about their current job, while 37% said it was their company culture.

Shifting work arrangement preferences

Meanwhile, the report also revealed that nearly half (49%) of young tech employees prefer working from the office, much higher than those who favoured a work-from-home arrangement (39%).

"This growing preference for office-based work begs the question — is the tide turning on the work-from-home trend for this generation? Not necessarily," Andreasen said.

According to the report, employees still cite greater flexibility as one of the key reasons why they're looking for a new job.

The report also found that nearly half of young tech employees (48%) put a lot of value on the ability to work from anywhere for a portion of the year.

"But one thing is clear: being in the office with peers and seniors enables people to learn faster through proximity. This has been a critical gap for onboarding, ramping, and training new talent since WFH began," Andreasen said.