Your Employees Are Happy. So Why Are They Still Looking?

Most employers still treat happiness as a decent proxy for retention. If people like the culture, get on with their manager and have a passable benefits package, the assumption is that they are probably staying.

The DNA Recruit 2026 Salary & Hiring Trends Guide points to something less comfortable. 68% of candidates describe themselves as happy or very happy in their current role. At the same time, 90% are open to moving.

That is the problem. Satisfaction and loyalty are being treated as the same thing, when the data suggests they are not. People can like where they work and still take a call from another business if pay, progression or flexibility starts to look better elsewhere.

The Loyalty Gap

The 90% figure is worth separating out, because this is not one group of people all behaving in the same way. Some are ready to leave now. Others are not actively searching, but they are listening.

• 42% are actively looking for a new job right now
• 31% are not looking, but would move for the right opportunity
• 17% are casually browsing the market

Only 10% of the workforce describes itself as fully committed to staying put. That means the vast majority of your team, including the people who told you they were happy in their last engagement survey, are at least open to a conversation with someone else.

90% of professionals are open to a new opportunity. Only 1 in 10 are staying put.

That should make employers more careful about how they read culture scores. A happy team is not automatically a settled team. The better question is whether people can see a reason to stay.

What Actually Triggers a Move

When candidates identify their primary motivation for considering a new role, salary leads the list, but only just. Career progression runs almost neck and neck with it, and beyond those two the motivators spread across a range of factors that tell a more complex story.

Why candidates consider moving (primary motivation)

• Salary and pay - 23%
• Career progression - 22%
• Flexible and remote working - 13%
• Leadership and management quality - 12%
• Company culture and values - 11%
• Work-life balance - 8%
• Meaningful work - 7%
  

The employer perspective largely lines up on the top two. Better pay and limited development opportunities are what most businesses believe drives people out. Where the gap opens up is further down the list. Candidates rank leadership quality and company culture higher than employers seem to realise. If your people are leaving because of their manager, a pay review alone will not solve it

"Retention is not a single-lever problem. The businesses that hold onto their best people address the full picture."

The Satisfaction Scorecard

The guide asked candidates to rate their satisfaction across ten dimensions of their current role on a scale of one to five. The results paint a picture of a workforce that feels underinvested in at almost every level.

Satisfaction scores across ten dimensions (1-5 scale)

Dimension	Score
Work/life balance	2.71
Culture	2.60
Company values and mission	2.54
Rewarding work	2.49
Current salary package	2.46
Travel	2.24
Benefits package	2.18
Training and development	2.17
Future earning potential	2.16
Career path	2.14

Career path, future earning potential, and training and development sit at the bottom. Those are the areas that tell someone whether their employer is genuinely investing in their future.

That is why the retention risk is bigger than pay alone. If people cannot see where they are going, cannot see how their earning potential improves, and feel their development has stalled, they are easier to lose. Even when they are happy day to day.

The Benefits Blind Spot

52% of candidates are dissatisfied with their current benefits package. When you look at what most compensation packages actually include, the reason becomes clear.

• 69% of candidates receive base salary only, with no additional compensation
• 28% receive a personal bonus
• 24% receive a company bonus
• 12% receive commission
  

For most people, the reward conversation begins and ends with base salary. That leaves employers with very little room to show investment beyond the annual pay review.

Benefits do not always need to mean expensive new schemes. Development budgets, additional leave, stronger pension contributions, flexible benefit options and better support around wellbeing can all help. The point is to make the package feel considered rather than default.

With more than half of candidates dissatisfied, the bar for standing out is probably lower than many employers think.

What Employers Can Do About It

The data in this year's guide does not describe an impossible problem. It describes a solvable one, provided employers are willing to act on what the numbers are saying rather than what they assumed was true.

Run a pay review before someone else does it for you. 45% of professionals received no pay rise in 2025. Salary remains the number one trigger to move. If your team has not had a meaningful increase and the market is offering 6-10% elsewhere, the maths is straightforward.

Make progression visible and personal. 79% of candidates say their employer has no clear progression plan for them. If you have a framework, pressure-test whether your people actually know about it and whether it feels relevant to their individual goals. A generic career ladder is not enough.

Ask what it would take to keep your best people. Engagement surveys measure satisfaction. They do not measure loyalty. Build direct, honest conversations about development, ambition, and long-term fit into your regular one-to-ones, and act on what you hear.

Audit your benefits package with fresh eyes. If 52% of your workforce is dissatisfied, something is missing. Look at what your competitors offer, identify the gaps, and consider where low-cost additions such as development budgets or enhanced leave could make a meaningful difference.

"The businesses that win at retention will not be the ones that assume a happy team is a loyal one."

The DNA Recruit 2026 Salary & Hiring Trends Guide contains the full retention data, the complete satisfaction scorecard, and salary benchmarks across every specialism in the marketing and creative sector.

Download the full guide to get the complete picture and the practical guidance to act on it.