There is a strong possibility that the next two years – or sooner – will see the technology industry witness a mass exodus of permanent staff as disgruntled employees turn to contracting.

A report by GCS, based on a survey of over 500 clients and candidates, indicates that a majority of permanent workers feel that they are ready to progress their career but do not receive sufficient opportunity from their current employer. Almost half of the permanent workers surveyed said work related stress has increased in the last year, as well as being unsatisfied with their benefits package – and the response from clients as to what they consider the most desired benefits show a distinct misunderstanding of what employees value most.

The 12 page report, to be released on 9th November, combines statistics from the survey with commentary from recruitment experts, including company founder Chris Bartlett and Head of GCS Technology Chris Devonshire. Managing Director David Bloxham also has penned some advice for clients as to how to increase employee engagement to ensure maximum staff retention. Other areas touched on by the report are attitudes towards social media in the workplace, sectors in which recruitment will take priority over the next year, and loyalty levels of contractors.

“The report confirmed some things I have suspected for a while” says Head of GCS Technology Chris Devonshire. “When the country last came out of a deep recession, employees who had stuck with an unsatisfactory job through the peak of the downturn began to look for proverbial ‘greener pastures’. This led to businesses losing workers with key skills and having to urgently recruit contractors to replace them. As this demand increased, more and more permanent employees saw opportunities and made the move to contracting”.