Eight in Ten Financial Professionals Are Ready to Move

Given their druthers, 85 percent of employed financial professionals would leave their jobs if a better opportunity presented itself. That's according to our first U.S. relocation survey which was released this week.

In fact, three in 10 financial professionals are so unhappy with their current jobs they're looking to change employment as soon as possible.

eFinancialCareers polled 1,172 working financial professionals based in the U.S. We also asked them how far would they go to further their careers?

Most of them said they're prepared to move to a new city and virtually all would consider relocating, whether with their current employers or a new firm. A surprising three in 10 would be prepared to take a pay cut to move to their desired city.

The most desired city to work in

San Francisco edged out the New York/Tri-State area as the most favored city to work in, based on overall ratings of relocation attractiveness of five top money centers.

New York, however, was chosen as the best city for career opportunities by a wide margin, but those who weren’t as enamored cited affordable housing as the top issue. Other cities in the top five include Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles.

San Francisco appealed for the quality of life and lifestyle, while Los Angeles lost ground on the lack of affordable housing, followed by the quality of life.

Holding the middle ground, Chicago and Boston are viewed as having attractive career opportunities, if less attractive on quality of life.

If you ask financial professionals, compensation is the top driver for making a move, followed by work-life balance/local lifestyle and promotion opportunities.