What are Canadians' Top Indicators of Career Success?

Toronto, ONTARIO - According to a new Ipsos-Reid/Globe and Mail poll released today, when Canadians are asked to choose from eight criteria of what defines "success in their career", "work-life balance" tops the list (30%). "Challenge of job" comes in at a distant second (14%) followed by "level of responsibility over your work" (12%), "opportunities to advance in the company or industry" (10%), "salary level" (9%), and "loyalty of your employees or those who report to you" (9%). Further distant are how Canadians view their "title" (2%) or "amount of vacation time" (2%) as top indicators of career success. One in ten (9%) of respondents report not having a "career or job".

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Globe and Mail poll conducted between April 22nd and April 24th, 2003. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadians population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

The Number One Selection

As noted above, when asked to choose from eight categories, almost one third of Canadians (30%) choose "work-life balance" as the top indicator of career success, making it the most cited criteria overall.

A closer look at the data also uncovered the following:

• "Work-Life Balance" (30%): Residents of Quebec (38%) are significantly more likely than their counterparts in Ontario (26%) or Atlantic Canada (22%) to believe "work-life balance" to be the top indicator of career success. Middle-aged Canadians (39%) are more likely than their younger (31%) and older (18%) counterparts to think this way. University graduates (37%) are more apt than Canadians with a high school diploma (28%) to think work-life balance is the top indicator of career success, and Canadians from upper income households (39%) are more likely than those from lower (20%) and middle (31%) income homes to feel this way.

And, If They Could Make Two Choices?

Respondents were then allowed to mention another selection from the eight categories as a second choice. When first and second choices are combined into an aggregate score, "work-life balance" remains the number one indicator of career success for Canadians. In fact, four in ten (41%) Canadians choose "work-life balance" overall.

"Level of responsibility over your work" (28%) and "challenge of job" (27%) are the second and third most mentioned indicators of career success according to Canadians. Other top indicators are "salary level" (25%), "loyalty of your employees or those who report to you" (22%), and "opportunities to advance in the company or industry" (22%).

Meanwhile aggregate numbers also suggest that even when given a second choice, Canadians do not view their "title" (4%) or "amount of vacation time" (4%) as top indicators of career success.

The aggregate data also revealed the following insights:

• "Work-life balance" (41%): Quebecers (48%), Albertans (47%), and residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (46%) are the most inclined to view "work-life balance" as a top indicator of career success. Middle-aged Canadians (51%) are significantly more likely than their younger (41%) and older (28%) counterparts to feel this way. University graduates (51%) and those with some university or other post-secondary education (46%) are significantly more likely than high school graduates (37%) or those without a high school diploma (18%), and Canadians with an upper household income (52%) are significantly more likely than their lower (27%) and middle (42%) household income counterparts to believe "work-life balance" as a top indicator of career success.
• "Level of responsibility over your work" (28%): The proportion of Canadians who believe "level of responsibility over your work" is one of the top indicators of career success appears to be static across all regions and socio-demographic categories. As such, there are no statistically significant regional or socio-demographic differences regarding "level of responsibility over your work".
• "Challenge of job" (27%): Residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (35%) are significantly more likely than residents of Quebec (23%) to believe "challenge of job" is a top indicator of career success. Middle-aged (30%) and younger (29%) Canadians are significantly more apt than older Canadians (22%) to feel this way. Canadians with some post secondary education or a university degree (32%) are significantly more inclined than those with or without a high school diploma (19%) to think "challenge of a job" is a top indicator of career success, and Canadians with a high household income (36%) are significantly more likely than their lower (21%) and middle (25%) household income counterparts to believe this to be the case.
• "Salary level" (25%): Residents of Ontario (31%) are significantly more likely than residents of Quebec (20%) to believe "salary level" is a top indicator of career success. Younger (30%) and middle-aged (28%) Canadians are significantly more inclined than their older (18%) counterparts, and men (30%) are significantly more likely than women (21%) to feel this way. Canadians with a high (30%) or a middle (29%) household income are significantly more inclined than their lower (21%) household income counterparts to believe "salary" is a top indicator of career success.
• "Loyalty of your employees or those who report to you" (22%): Atlantic Canadians (31%) are significantly more likely than residents of Quebec (17%), and Canadians with some high school or a high school diploma (28%) are significantly more apt than those individuals with some post secondary education or a university degree (18%) to think "loyalty of your employees or those who report to you" is a top indicator of career success.
• "Opportunities to advance in company or industry" (22%): Young adults (29%) are significantly more likely than their middle-aged (18%) and older (20%) counterparts, and men (25%) are significantly more likely than women (19%) to believe "opportunities to advance in company or industry" is a top indicator of career success.
• "Your title" (4%): The number of responses are too small to consider any regional or socio-demographic differences.
• "Amount of vacation time" (4%): The number of responses are too small to consider any regional or socio-demographic differences.

Numbers noted above in aggregate add up to more than 100% based on multiple responses to the categories.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900