Forget the Great Resignation: The Great Rebalance Takes Hold as EU Workers Prioritise Pay and Wellbeing in 2026
By Tim Keary
A study released on January 7 reveals that Europe’s workforce, including UK employees, are heading into 2026 with a different definition of success. According to the European Career Outlook 2026 report – which surveyed 1,000 workers across the UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, with a mix of Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X, and Baby Boomer respondents – found that 53% will prioritise higher pay as their top goal for 2026.
The pursuit of higher pay is unsurprising, given the ongoing cost of living crisis and an oversaturated job market. Unexpectedly, however, just 9% of employees consider getting a promotion as one of their top career goals for 2026, trailing far behind other goals like wanting less stress (37%), and a better work-life balance (34%).
Across Europe, employees are opting to change jobs rather than relying on promotions, potentially due to seeing this as a more reliable means of getting a pay rise. This great rebalance shows that workers aren’t defining success with professional achievements and job titles, but through their overall quality of life.
Employee Expectations in 2026
With 10 in 16 European countries with available data seeing real household income drop in 2025, the pursuit of higher pay appears to be in response to a challenging economic climate.
“While pay has long been central to career decisions, 2026 marks a clear moment where financial security, wellbeing, and quality of life now outweighs traditional markets of success such as promotions or rapid career advancement,” said Vitalii Mikhailov, CEO at global freelance management and payroll platform EasyStaff, while in conversation with European Business Magazine.
“Over half of European workers name higher pay as their top goal for the year ahead, and substantial numbers prioritise reducing stress and improving work-life balance. This suggests a fundamental rebalancing of what ‘career success’ means for many professionals today — away from relentless ambition and toward sustainable, meaningful career progression,” the executive added.
Most employees will be looking for new jobs in 2026, the report found; when asked if they were looking for a new job in 2026, 22% said it was very likely, 25% said it was likely, 20% said it was somewhat likely, while just 33% said it was not likely.
However, searching for new roles will not be easy. With many jobseekers struggling in the employment market, job hopping while meeting financial aspirations will be a pressing challenge.
On the upside, many employees are planning to meet these challenges head on through upskilling their teams with new tech competencies such as AI or coding (37%), skills specific to their industry (35%), communication and interpersonal skills (28%), leadership and management (22%), and networking and personal branding (14%).
With only 23% of employees having no plans to develop new skills, most workers are looking to improve their knowledge to thrive in this fast-moving market. Those learning AI skills will likely do well, particularly as more companies use AI agents and large language models (LLMs) to automate key processes.
Upskilling is not a fool proof strategy, particularly with how aggressively automation can impact industries. Yet, it is key to developing skills that remain relevant as the market evolves.
How Can Employers Win Back Employees?
With more employees planning to jump ship for better salaries, employers need to rethink the compensation and benefits that they offer their teams – if they want to retain them over the long term. Ensuring employee satisfaction is thus the first step.
When asked what would most enhance their job satisfaction, workers pointed to a range of factors including: higher pay (52%); flexible working hours (34%); wellness support (20%); fully remote working (18%); a clearer career path (16%); better management (16%); and other factors (3%).
Regardless, 14% said that nothing would improve satisfaction – a testament to the resignification of wellbeing and pay security.
In this sense, employers that want to encourage employee satisfaction and retention need to look toward higher pay and flexible working hours first, before offering other options. Vague benefits like unlimited paid time off or office ping-pong tables also will not be enough to motivate employees – there needs to be clear, measurable value.
Employers can provide value not just by offering a higher base salary, but also by offering greater flexibility, fully remote working, and clear opportunities for advancement. Though these measures are not a silver bullet, they can help make employees happier in their positions.
The modern employment market is extremely unforgiving, but employers can attract and retain top talent by simply taking the time to understand what benefits are important to them. There’s no one-size fits all solution; while some employees want a higher salary above all else, others might take a pay cut for a remote-only option. The key, however, lies in listening to feedback and building compensation around that.
The post Forget the Great Resignation: The Great Rebalance Takes Hold as EU Workers Prioritise Pay and Wellbeing in 2026 appeared first on European Business & Finance Magazine.
