British bosses are bracing themselves for a serious bout of January blues among the workforce, with as many as a quarter of UK workers claiming their their job makes them unhappy, and 41% saying they plan a career overhaul this year.
While one in ten (9%) claim they plan to tell their boss “to stick it” this year, the majority (37%) say they will bite the bullet on the first day back, which in many cases is today (January 5).
Meanwhile, more than a quarter (26%) plan to start their own business at some point this year, while 24% wish to retrain in something different.
According to the nationwide survey of 2,000 UK workers by ACS International Schools, 16% plan to go back to university or college and 8% will ask their boss if they can take a sabbatical.
In fact, the study reveals half of working Brits feel they were forced down a career path that was not their choice, with one in four insisting they were pressurised by their parents, who had set ideas about what they wanted them to do, while 43% insist they would have chosen a more creative occupation if they had been given the opportunity.
One in five (20%) even feel resentful about being shoehorned into a certain career, while a quarter (26%) are frustrated at where they have found themselves. A sixth (15%) just feel depressed about where they have ended up.
As a result, more than half (54%) say they are not currently working in their dream career, with 18% admitting they envy those who seem to love their job.
However, 85% of today’s parents polled, say they will encourage their children to follow their dreams rather than take a job they are not interested in, with 57% saying they will be much more open about possible career choices compared to their own parents.
Two-thirds (66%) go a step further and think that the current UK exam system pushes kids to pick subject choices too early, limiting future study and career options, and 62% of their teenage children think the same.
ACS Hillingdon head of school Martin Hall said: “The research shows the nation’s workers feel like they have been short-changed when it comes to their careers, and the next generation fears the current system will send them the same way.
“What’s concerning is that the same system that created these regrets is still in place. Our research shows 66% of parents believe the English exam system forces children to narrow their subject choices too early – at 14 and 16 – often before they understand what opportunities exist.
When it comes to dream careers, one in six (17%) workers say they were told that being a professional footballer were out of reach, while 14% were told it was impossible to be a singer.
Other careers that supposedly were impossible, according to career advisors, include being an actor (12%), an artist (10%), a doctor (9%) and a pilot (9%).
Hall concluded: “Parents experiencing career regret shouldn’t assume the only path is the one they took. They should ask schools: Are you preparing my child to be ready for an unpredictable future, or forcing them to be ‘single subject specialists’? That’s the question that matters.”
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