Just under two thirds (64%) of UK workers think their career would have progressed further had the country not seen a recession – and 26% feel that their career has either stood still or gone backwards over the past two years.

This is according to a survey of 800 candidates of recruiter Change Recruitment Group, which also finds that a further quarter (23%) said they had hoped to have progressed faster than they had over this period – just below the 26% who thought their career was on track.

As a result, 74% of those surveyed said they were job hunting in some form, with 44% actively looking for a move in order to take a step up.

Mark McFall, Change Recruitment’s domestic managing director, says: “Career development is an essential tool in retaining staff and ultimately creating a working environment where people want to stay. Investment in training and development goes a long way to creating a culture where staff feel they’re developing and working towards an end goal.

“Regular performance reviews and clear goal setting will enable both employees and employers to ensure that they are on track. This is about organisations investing to better their people for the challenges ahead.”