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Stepstone analysis: These were the top trends for 2024 – and this is how employees start the new year
DÜSSELDORF, December 17, 2024 — Job changes, salary increases and less stress: employees have clear plans for 2025. A current study by The Stepstone Group with 8,600 respondents and an analysis of job searches and job advertisements on Stepstone.de show which trends will shape the job market in 2024 and what resolutions people will pursue next year. One in two respondents plans to look for a new job in 2025.
The five most important findings:
- Most in-demand job in 2024: educator
Educators were the most searched professions on Stepstone.de in 2024, followed by medical assistants. The chances of finding a suitable position in this area are currently very good: in November alone, over a quarter more jobs in education and training were advertised on Stepstone.de than in January 2020 – even before the corona pandemic. And jobs in the healthcare system are also 13 percent higher than the number from around 5 years ago.
“Educator is the ultimate job of the future – not only because children deserve the best care, but also because our labor market will collapse without educators,” says labor market expert Dr. Tobias Zimmermann from The Stepstone Group. “As a society, we cannot afford to lose any more working hours because childcare is not guaranteed.”
- Lateral entry is booming
The number of Stepstone.de jobs that are explicitly aimed at career changers has quadrupled in the last five years – especially in sales and retail, but also in plant mechanics, as office workers, train drivers or in logistics . At the same time, job seekers are also becoming more and more open to switching to a completely different job: 'lateral entry' is one of the top three search terms on Stepstone.de this year.
“Linear career paths are becoming increasingly rare, and changing careers is the new normal.” “Skills will be crucial, not just degrees,” says Zimmermann.
- New year, new job, better salary
Changing jobs is a popular New Year's resolution: almost one in two people (48 percent) want to look for a new job in the new year. Almost two thirds of those willing to change would like a higher salary (64 percent). 42 percent hope that they can combine work and private life better – almost as many would like to have better career and development opportunities (40 percent) or more interesting tasks (38 percent).
“Salary remains the number one deciding factor when choosing an employer,” says Zimmermann. “But one thing is also clear: not every company can constantly increase salary levels. Further training measures also make employers attractive and strengthen their position in the competition for the right candidates.”
- “Never without my team”
A third of all respondents have no ambition to change jobs in the foreseeable future. The main reason: Every second respondent wants to stay with their current employer because of the good relationship with colleagues and superiors.
“We generally spend around eight hours a day at our workplace – and therefore often more time with colleagues than with friends. “A functioning team structure is the main feel-good factor in the job – team fit must also be taken into account when recruiting new employees,” says Zimmermann.
- Top resolution for 2025: less stress
Stress reduction is at the top of the list for every second respondent. At the same time, more than one in three people have resolved to further their education – and 33 percent want to do something meaningful in their job.
“People especially feel stress when they feel pressure from a high workload and don’t see any meaning in their tasks.” This can be done to increase their productivity. “If people taking jobs are given the opportunity to focus on their core competencies and hand over unwanted repetitive tasks to new technologies, that is motivating,” says Zimmermann.
*General search terms such as “training”, “mini-job” etc., which do not refer to a specific job or professional field, were excluded from consideration.
About analyzing job searches on Stepstone.de
To analyze the search trends on Stepstone.de, all search terms on the platform in the period from January 1st to October 30th, 2024 were evaluated and sorted according to frequency of entry.
About the analysis of job advertisements on Stepstone.de
To analyze the development of job advertisements on Stepstone.de, the number of paid job advertisements on Stepstone.de in November 2024 was compared with the number of paid job advertisements on Stepstone.de in January 2020. The data basis for the analysis of lateral entry jobs is the average number of daily job advertisements on Stepstone.de that contain this term. The analyzes refer to the period from January 2019 to July 2024.
About the study
What plans do job seekers have in 2025? Do you want to change your employer or stay? And what role does salary play? In the “Job & Salary” study, Stepstone surveyed around 8,600 employees, including around 1,600 managers and over 800 recruiters, in Germany on these and other topics in November 2024. The survey is representative of the German working population according to age, gender and education.
About The Stepstone Group
Stepstone Group is a world-leading digital recruiting platform that connects companies with suitable talent and helps people find the right job. With the help of AI-supported job marketplaces and programmatic marketing solutions, you can reach more than 130 million applications from around 140,000 employers every year. In the 2023 financial year, The Stepstone Group generated sales of around 1 billion euros. The company is active in more than 30 countries – including Stepstone in Germany, Appcast in the USA and Totaljobs in Great Britain. The Stepstone Group, headquartered in Düsseldorf, employs more than 3,500 people worldwide. Further information at: www.thestepstonegroup.com/de
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December 17, 2024 CET/CEST Publication of a press release, transmitted by EQS News – a service of EQS Group AG.
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