Nearly 60% of candidates who recently accepted a job offer report that they would make the same choice, according to Gartner, Inc.

A Gartner survey of more than 1,800 candidates conducted in June 2022 revealed that candidates who reported they would repeat an offer decision reached a peak of 83% in 2021, after increasing steadily in 2019 (60%) and 2020 (70%), before decreasing dramatically this year.

The same survey found that nearly half of surveyed candidates say they are still open to other offers, while 28% say if they had to make the decision again, they would stay at their previous employer.

“Not only are candidates keeping their options open, but they are more likely to back out of offers after accepting,” said Jamie Kohn, director in the Gartner HR practice. “Our June survey of over 3,600 candidates found that 44% of respondents had backed out after accepting an offer, compared to 36% in 2019.”

Motivation Behind Job Changes

Gartner’s survey found that among the more than 3,600 candidates, one-quarter reported their reason for seeking a new role was feeling unappreciated in their current job. Candidates also said they started exploring new job opportunities due to believing they could command better compensation elsewhere (25%) and feeling burned out in their current role (25%).

“Job changes appear to be motivated more by negative experiences with the current job than by the perception of opportunity elsewhere,” said Kohn.

However, once candidates start looking elsewhere, they have high expectations. Of the 1,600 candidates who said they have backed out after accepting an offer, 46% said they did so because they received a better offer.

“Competition for talent remains fierce with candidates still coming to the table with multiple offers –one in three candidates have turned down multiple offers during their recent job search,” continued Kohn.

Candidate Priorities

Of the 3,600 candidates Gartner surveyed, 59% said they would be willing to forego a job with 10% higher pay for a job with better work-life balance. Fifty-three percent of surveyed candidates reported they would forego 10% higher pay for either a more interesting career path or more opportunities to learn new skills.

Another consideration for candidates is flexibility – 86% of candidates who can work remotely now, whether hybrid or fully remote, prefer to work remotely more than 50% of the time. Nearly half say they would forego 10% higher pay for flexibility in where they work.

“Though candidates may prioritize certain aspects of work over pay, companies should still be transparent about pay in job postings,” added Kohn. “Nearly 50% of candidates stated they have decided not to apply to a role in the past 12 months because the job description did not include the salary.”

To recruit and retain talent in today’s job market and recruiting environment, organizations must be responsive to candidate needs and wants, while also being transparent about what they are able to offer early in the hiring process.

Gartner clients can read more in the report: “Survey Analysis: Candidates’ Expectations, Experiences and Outcomes on the Job Market in 2022.”

About the Gartner ReimagineHR Conference

The Gartner ReimagineHR Conference is the premier event for CHROs and HR leaders to learn from the latest research and Gartner experts covering talent acquisition, diversity, equity and inclusion, learning and development, total rewards, talent analytics, and HR technology. Gartner ReimagineHR will be held September 15-16 in London and October 24-26 in Florida. Follow news and updates from these events on Twitter using #GartnerHR.

About the Gartner HR Practice

The Gartner HR practice brings together the best relevant content approaches across Gartner to offer individual decision makers strategic business advice on the mission-critical priorities that cut across the HR function. Additional information is available at http://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/human-resources-leaders. Follow news and updates from the Gartner HR practice on Twitter and LinkedIn using #GartnerHR. Members of the media can find additional information and insights in the Gartner HR Newsroom.