Insights
BlueSteps 2013 Executive Mobility Report - May 2013
Executive Tenure - How Long is Enough?
The 2013 BlueSteps Executive Mobility Report shows that the greatest percentage (43.7%) of global executives (Director-level and above) expect to be at their current organization from two to five years, followed closely by 39.9% of executives who expect to stay with their current organization for at least six years or longer. Only 16.3% of executives expect to be at their current organization for less than two years. The largest percentage (38.3%) of executives surveyed have already been at their current organization from between two and five years.
Executives worldwide report that 25% of senior management at their current organization has been there for less than five years, followed closely by 23.6% who state that 50% of senior management at their current organization has been their less than five years.
The majority (55%) of executives who participated in the survey report that they have worked for only two to three organizations at the executive level to date, followed by 33.7% of executives who have worked for four or more organizations at the executive level to date. The largest percentage (43.8%) of executives expect to remain at their current career level for five years or longer. Thirty-four percent of executives plan to stay in their current industry for at least eight years or longer, but nearly one quarter (22.5%) of executives plan to remain in their current industry for only two to three years. Fifteen percent of executives are looking to leave their current industry within one year.
The majority (53.9%) of executives expect to have worked for four to seven organizations at the executive level by the end of their careers. Forty-nine percent of executives worldwide report that two years is the shortest tenure an executive can have at one organization without compromising the value of their resume, while 81.5% of executives state that two to three organizations is the maximum number an executive can have worked for in a ten year period in order to remain credible.
Executive Mobility - To Stay or Go?
Seventy-six percent of executives surveyed report that they are likely to consider a new opportunity immediately, with 48.9% of those executives reporting that they are actively looking for a new job. Only 5.3% of executives worldwide would not consider making a job change right now. Of executives surveyed, the majority chose “poor company values or culture” (72.5%) and “dissatisfaction with senior management” (65.8%) as the top two reasons that would most lead them to consider leaving a job, company or industry. The least important reason indicated for making a career move by the majority (69.4%) of executives was “scrutiny of working for a public company.”