Five Reasons To Find a New Job in 2008

By Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder.com writer

If you’re like many professionals, you daydream about leaving your underwhelming job to find amore-fulfilling (or at least better-paying) one, but you never do. Here are five reasons why youshouldn’t put off your job search one more day.

(1) You'll Stress Less
These days, work and stress are synonymous. A 2007 survey by ComPsych Corporation found stress isrampant in the workplace. Sixty percent of workers said they have high levels of stress withsymptoms of extreme fatigue and feeling out of control. Another 33 percent said they have constantbut manageable stress. That's a lot of headaches.What's the biggest cause of all this tension? The study cited "people issues" as the

No. 1 workstressor, followed by workload and work/life balance. It's proven that stress can harm your mentaland physical health, so save yourself by finding a new job.


(2) You'll Advance Your Career
Take the next step up that proverbial ladder. Workers may have more negotiating power withemployers than they think. Eighty-one percent of hiring managers said it was difficult to findqualified candidates 12 months ago, and 91 percent said recruiting is equally or more challengingtoday, according to the 2007 Employment Dynamics and Growth Expectations (EDGE) Report byCareerBuilder.com and Robert Half International. More than half of hiring managers who are havingtrouble recruiting cited a shortage of qualified professionals as the primary culprit.

(3) You'll Make More Money
All signs point to fatter paychecks in 2008. Nearly two-in-five hiring managers plan to increasestarting salaries in the next year to attract new talent, according to the EDGE Report. Plus, theDepartment of Labor reports annual compensation costs (what employers spend on wages, salaries andbenefits) for civilian workers increased 3.3 percent for the year ended September 2007. And,average hourly earnings increased from $16.91 in October 2006 to $17.58 in October 2007. Takeadvantage of this knowledge and use it in negotiating your new starting salary.

(4) You'll Get Better Benefits
Although economic pressures are increasing, employers are becoming more committed to offering moreand better benefits packages to attract and retain talent. Thirty percent of hiring managersreported their firms have instituted new policies and programs to increase staff retention ratesin the last 12 months, up from 23 percent this time last year, according to the sameCareerBuilder.com/Robert Half report. The primary measures taken included offering pay raises,bonuses, better benefits and more flexible schedules. In addition, Prudential Financial's study"Employee Benefits: 2006 & Beyond" looked at current and future employee needs and how employersplan to respond to them. Eighty percent of employers say it's important to offer and subsidize awide range of employee benefits. Be prepared: Although more companies are offering morediversified benefits, workers may see more costs shifted from employer to employee, especially involuntary benefits.

(5) You'll Have More Time
Isn't it time you improve your commute? Fifty-nine percent of workers surveyed byCareerBuilder.com admit to experiencing road rage while traveling to and from work. With 128million commuters in the United States that's a lot of road rage. It seems your commute is onlygoing to get worse according to "Commuting in America III" by Alan Pisarski published by theTransportation Research Board. The average national travel times grew to 25.5 minutes in 2000, upfrom 22.4 in 1990 and 21.7 in 1980. That time is increasing even though more people are leavingfor work between 5 a.m. and 6:30 a.m to beat rush hour. Find something closer to home, or betteryet, become one of the 4 million Americans already working from home.Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com. He researches and writes aboutjob search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.Last Updated: Monday,

December 10, 2007 - 10:36 AMCopyright 2007 CareerBuilder.com. All rights reserved. The information contained in this articlemay not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without prior written authority.