As workplaces reopen after the Christmas break, a growing number of UK employees are weighing up whether to stay put or walk away altogether. The start of the year is emerging as a flashpoint for career dissatisfaction, with many workers reassessing their roles, long-term prospects and whether their job still aligns with their ambitions.
The return to work in early January appears to concentrate these decisions into a narrow window. Some employees are planning to resign as soon as they are back at their desks, while others are considering more gradual changes such as retraining, starting a business or stepping away from work temporarily. The pattern points to pent up frustration rather than impulsive decision making, with dissatisfaction often rooted in career choices made much earlier in life.
Behind these intentions sits a wider sense of regret about career direction and perceived pressure to follow a path shaped by parents, schools or exam structures rather than individual interests. That regret is now feeding into a broader rethinking of work, education and what success should look like in an increasingly uncertain labour market.
January emerges as a key resignation moment
Survey findings by international schools group ACS suggest that as many as one in ten workers are considering handing in their notice during January, with a significant share planning to do so on the first working day back after the holidays. Alongside outright resignation plans, a much larger group say they intend to make some form of career change this year, whether through retraining, self employment or returning to education.
The data also points to widespread dissatisfaction with current roles. Around a quarter of respondents said their job made them unhappy, while more than half reported they were not working in what they would consider their ideal career. Feelings of frustration and resentment were common, and a notable minority described feeling depressed about where their career had ended up.
Envy also played a role. Nearly one in five respondents said they felt envious of people who appeared to genuinely enjoy their work, suggesting that visible job satisfaction among peers may be amplifying dissatisfaction for others during moments of reflection such as the January return.
Early career pressure still shapes working lives
Much of the dissatisfaction appears to stem from decisions made in adolescence rather than adulthood. A significant proportion of workers said they felt forced down a career path that was not truly their own, often due to parental expectations or narrow definitions of success presented at school.
Among those who felt pressured, one in four said parents had steered them towards a specific career, while many believed they would have chosen a more creative occupation if they had been given greater freedom. Others said career advisers had actively discouraged them from pursuing certain roles, particularly in creative or sporting fields, by framing those paths as unrealistic or unattainable.
Concerns about the education system were shared by parents and young people alike. Many argued that pupils are required to narrow subject choices too early, limiting future options before they have had meaningful exposure to the range of careers available to them. Teenage respondents broadly agreed with that assessment, suggesting that anxieties about early specialisation are already embedded among those approaching working age.
A growing challenge for retention strategies
Martin Hall, Head of School at ACS Hillingdon, said the research pointed to long-term consequences of rigid education and career pathways.
He said the data showed many workers felt short changed by the careers they ended up in and that younger people feared being pushed into similar situations. He added that it was concerning the same structures that created those regrets remained in place.
“Our research shows 66 percent of parents believe the English exam system forces children to narrow their subject choices too early, at 14 and 16, often before they understand what opportunities exist,” he said.
Hall also warned against parents assuming that their own career path should define their children’s choices. “Parents experiencing career regret should not assume the only path is the one they took,” he said. “They should ask schools, are you preparing my child to be ready for an unpredictable future, or forcing them to be single subject specialists? That is the question that matters.”
The January spike in quitting intentions presents both a retention risk and an opportunity. Experts say organisations that fail to address long standing dissatisfaction may see higher turnover in the opening weeks of the year, particularly among employees who have used the holiday period to reflect on their future. At the same time, employers that offer development pathways, retraining support and open career conversations may be better placed to retain staff who are questioning their direction but not yet committed to leaving.
