Job searches typically slow to a standstill at the end of the year as job hunters turn their attention to holiday parties and hunting down Fingerlings.
That all changes come January.
With the jobless rate at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent and the rate of people quitting their jobs at a post-recession high, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this month is poised to be a particularly popular time to jump-start a career change.
In previous years, job searches in the first week of January jumped as much as 70 percent from the average day, according to Monster job search data.
This year promises an even greater upswing. Nearly 4 in 10, or 38 percent, of working Americans are looking for a new job or plan to in 2018, according to a recent report by job-hunting site Glassdoor. That's up from previous years.
Overall, half of all those surveyed said they would consider looking for a new job in the year ahead. Glassdoor polled more than 2,000 employed adults in December.
"It's a positive economic climate and there's new job growth so we know that more people will be searching for a job this year," said Glassdoor's trends analyst Scott Dobroski.
Millennials, in particular, are eager to make a move. Fifty-six percent of those aged 18 to 34 are currently looking for a new job or plan to this year, Glassdoor said. Most are looking for higher-paying positions, followed by greater career opportunities or a company culture that fits their needs, according to Dobroski.
Job hopping is typically considered the best bet for a big salary bump. Job switchers saw their wages grow nearly a percentage point more over the past year than job stayers, according to a mid-2017 report from Nomura.
A separate study from the nonprofit group Mental Health America and The Faas Foundation, which surveyed more than 17,000 U.S. workers, found that employees are even more fixated on finding new positions in the near future.
That survey said that 71 percent of workers are either "actively looking for new job opportunities" or considered it "always, often or sometimes." Only 19 percent said they "rarely or never" think about getting a new job.
For those serious about making a change, these are the best places to work in 2018.
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