- Two-thirds say they'd work for an SMB over a multinational enterprise
- Workers still fear about the economic uncertainty SMBs face
- Human relationships and company goal alignment are important
A growing number of UK workers are losing faith in large, multinational employers following consistent, high-profile layoffs in recent years across tech and other big corporations.
New CareermindsUK data found that two in three (67%) UK workers would now rather work for a small business or startup rather than a large enterprise.
However, job security isn't the only influencer, with values and trust also cited as key drivers for applicants seeking new opportunities.
More workers prefer SMBs to big corps
The report argues that years of corporate redundancies have weakened the long-standing perception that the world's biggest companies offer the safest positions and most attractive career progression opportunities – only one in three (33%) still believe this is the case.
At the same time, only one in five (20%) said they view small businesses as more secure in the current economic climate, implying that they're being pushed away from big enterprises rather than being drawn to SMBs. Still, nearly half (47%) said they would choose a smaller company or startup because they want to support their employer, with the research pointing at the importance of human relationships and alignment with company goals.
Already, the tech sector has laid off more than 116,000 workers this year to date, per layoffs.fyi. Some of the heaviest hitting include Oracle, Intel, Amazon, Tesla, Google, Meta, Dell and Microsoft, accounting for tens of thousands combined.
"Smaller, lesser-known employers now have a unique opportunity to attract top talent that may never have considered working for them before," careers expert Amanda Augustine explained.
