As the US labor market improves, the “me” vs. “we” disconnect becomes most apparent in the area of employee retention, according to research released by ADP. Employees tend to concentrate on their work environment, look for meaning in their job and want immediate advancement opportunities; however, employers tend focus on bigger picture areas like financial performance, reputation and long-term career pathing.

According to ADP, 17% of employees are actively looking and 46% are passively looking for new jobs — showing that more than half of an employer’s total workforce, 63%, may be open to leaving. Yet, while employers overestimate how many of their employees are actively searching, 26%; they underestimate how many are passively looking, 23%.

“ADP’s economic reports on employment and wages show if employers can’t meet the needs of their employees they can easily look for new jobs elsewhere,” said Jan Siegmund CFO of ADP. “In addition, employers face a perfect storm of sorts when it comes to keeping top talent. While they focus on efforts to be an employer of choice, face paying higher wages, and more, their employees can use technologies that make it easy to essentially browse for new job opportunities.”

Forty-seven percent of employees at midsize companies in the US would consider an opportunity that matched their current salary or even paid less, demonstrating that wage growth is not the only determinant for employees who are considering a job switch. ADP also found 47% of employees say they have walked away from a job that did not meet their expectations.

Additional findings include:

• 63% of an employer’s workforce is open to leaving for another job
• 46% of employees would consider a job that matched current salary or paid less
• 13% raise in pay would prompt someone to change jobs 
• 47% of employees have walked away from a job that did not meet their expectations
• 27% of people change jobs annually, putting job switching at an all-time high