It’s not just Air Canada and Canada Post workers who are unhappy with their employers, a new survey has found.

Findings from Mercer’s What’s Working survey, released today, indicated that 36% of Canadian workers are seriously considering leaving their organization, up sharply from 26% in 2006. In addition, another 22% are indifferent about leaving but are increasingly dissatisfied with their employers.

Scores are down consistently across key engagement measures while intention to leave is up across all employee segments, with the youngest workers most likely to be eyeing a departure—43% of employees ages 25 to 34, and 45% of employees 24 and younger.

Cash is king
Employees regard base pay as the most important element of the employment deal by a wide margin, yet only 53% say they are satisfied with their base pay.

More retirement help
Only 43% of Canadian employees believe they are doing enough to financially prepare for retirement, and just 40% believe their employers are doing enough to help them prepare.

Benefits could be better
Sixty-six percent rate their overall benefits program as good or very good, while 58% say they are satisfied with their healthcare benefits. However, only 53% say their benefits are as good as, or better than, those of others in their industry, down from 65% in 2006.

“This erosion in employee sentiment has business consequences that reach well beyond the direct costs of employee turnover,” said Madeline Avedon, a principal with Mercer’s human capital business. “Diminished respect for, and lack of confidence in, an organization can undermine the innovation and productivity gains businesses rely on from their workforces,” she said.

“To better understand what drives engagement on a broader scale, employers must periodically take the pulse of their own employees to identify specific areas of concern and link employee opinion to outcomes such as productivity and retention,” added Pete Foley, a principal at Mercer and an employee research consultant. “Only then can informed decisions be made regarding trade-offs and investments in the employment relationship, developing specific leadership skills and enhancing managerial effectiveness on the front line.”

This survey collected responses from 30,000 workers in 17 countries, including more than 2,000 workers in Canada.