Employers are being urged to consider progression, following the surprising results of a job satisfaction survey, scotsman.com reports.

The YouGov poll, commissioned by Oxford Open Learning, discovered that a third of Britain’s working population were dissatisfied with their jobs, but specifically with the lack of career progression on offer. Forty-five per cent of respondents said that this was their biggest frustration.

The finding suggests that greater numbers of workers would stay with their employer if they could be assured of development. After all, progression – aka the desire to develop and better one’s situation – is absolutely integral to staff motivation and retention, no matter whether an individual is employed in a corner shop, an international conglomerate or in franchise services.

Providing such opportunities could therefore be key for employers who wish to retain top talent.

Oxford Open Learning course director, Dr Nick Smith emphasised the sentiment via managementtoday.co.uk: “It’s particularly interesting that so many people are concerned about a lack of opportunities to progress in their current careers – this suggests that employers may be able to retain workers for longer if they can offer clearer paths to promotion.”

Other prominent reasons for job dissatisfaction included pay, stress and job security. Interestingly, however, the survey found that younger people were generally happier with their jobs than older people. Only 23 per cent of 18-24 year-olds said they were unhappy, but this rose to 33 per cent among the 25-34 age range.