In the recruiting world, we often hear from a potential candidate that they aren’t interested in leaving their current position because they are “happy where they are.”  While we love to hear this, and certainly do not enjoy other people’s career-related pains, it is unlikely that each of these people are truly happy at their current job with the job dissatisfaction rate nearing 80%, per Deloitte’s Shift Index survey.  This means that 8 out of 10 professionals are dreaming of a better job.  So why do more people than 20% claim to be happy at with their job?
According to Daniel Gulati, of hbr.org, there are several psychological reasons that people stay in a job that isn’t ideal.  These reasons include conditioning, having visible losses due to social media virality, and premature optimization.  Read further to better understand the subconscious psychological reasons you are still in a job that dissatisfies you, and perhaps you will be able to make the leap to a better career.