Americans want almost $80K to take a new job, NY Fed says

The report did, however, show that despite an evident gap in offered and desired pay, employees are somewhat more likely to remain in their current posts than last year.

By Ben Whedon

Published: August 22, 2023 3:51pm

Americans want increasingly higher pay to accept a new position amid high inflation, but employers are struggling to keep up with the demand.

The New York Federal Reserve on Monday indicated that the average "reservation wage" now stands at $78,645. The reservation wage represents the minimum salary one might accept to take on a new job. In 2022, the same figure stood at $72,873.

By contrast, the average full time offer stands at $69,475, which is 14% higher than in 2022. The average expected annual salary reached $67,416.

Inflation reached a high of 9.1% in June of last year and, though it has gradually declined, ticked up again in July, at which time the figure stood at 3.2%.

The report did, however, show that despite an evident gap in offered and desired pay, employees are somewhat more likely to remain in their current posts than last year. In 2022, the likeliness of changing jobs stood at 11% and has since fallen 10.6%. The likelihood of receiving a new job offer in the next four months dropped to 18.7% compared to the 2022 figure of 21.1%.

Unemployment currently sits at 3.5%. The average expected likelihood of becoming unemployed however, stood at 3.9%. In 2022, the figure stood at 2.3%.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.