The Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession are navigating a workforce environment in which employee satisfaction, career mobility, compensation, workplace culture, and hiring difficulty are closely connected. The results of The VET Recruiter’s 2026 Workforce/Workplace Survey reveal that while employees are generally more satisfied than dissatisfied, they are also remarkably willing to consider other career opportunities.
Perhaps the survey’s most important finding is that employee satisfaction should not be mistaken for employee loyalty.
When respondents rated their happiness with their current position on a scale from zero to 10, the average was 6.9. In addition, 66.5% rated their happiness between seven and 10, while only 16.5% gave their position a rating of four or lower.
However, only 36.5% agreed or strongly agreed that they plan to retire with their current employer. Another 34.1% were neutral, and 29.3% disagreed to some degree. Even more significantly, 76.3% said they look for jobs at least occasionally. Nearly one-third, 30.5%, look monthly or more frequently, including 12% who look daily and 10.5% who look weekly.
These findings indicate that an employee does not have to be unhappy to consider leaving. Someone may be reasonably satisfied with their current job while remaining curious about better compensation, increased flexibility, stronger leadership, advancement opportunities, or improved work-life balance.
At the same time, many respondents appear to be selective rather than actively trying to leave. Despite more than three-quarters looking at jobs at least occasionally, 58.7% reported having no job interviews during the previous 12 months. This suggests the presence of a large population of passive or exploratory candidates who are monitoring the employment market but waiting for a sufficiently compelling opportunity before making a move.
Compensation is Important, But It is Not Everything
Compensation remains a major factor in both recruiting and retention. Overall, 71.9% of respondents said they were at least somewhat satisfied with their compensation, while 21.3% expressed some level of dissatisfaction.
However, 56% said they had not received a pay raise during the previous 12 months. In a workforce where so many people are monitoring other opportunities, a lack of compensation growth could leave employees more receptive to outside offers.
Compensation and pay transparency were also the most frequently mentioned considerations when respondents were asked what they look for in a job posting, appearing in 52% of analyzed responses.
Still, candidates clearly evaluate the entire employment opportunity. Schedule, flexibility, and work-life balance appeared in 33.2% of responses. Location and commute appeared in 19.7%; benefits in 18.5%; role fit and duties in 17.2%; and culture, leadership, and team in 16.3%.
Consequently, employers need more than a competitive salary to attract talented professionals. Candidates want to understand what their daily work experience will be like, how they will be managed, what benefits they will receive, and whether the opportunity fits their career and personal priorities.
Workplace Concerns Create Retention Risks
The survey also revealed significant concerns about respondents’ current workplaces. Only 21% indicated that they had no concerns.
Understaffing was the leading concern at 36.9%, followed closely by poor management or leadership at 35.1%. Other concerns included being overworked at 29.4%, poor communication at 28.2%, being underpaid at 27%, poor culture at 20.7%, poor work-life balance at 18.9%, and instability at 17.1%.
These issues are often interconnected. Understaffing can cause employees to become overworked, which can negatively affect work-life balance. Poor leadership can contribute to communication and culture problems. Those problems can increase turnover, which can create additional staffing shortages.
As a result, employers cannot rely solely on compensation to retain employees. Higher pay may help, but it will not necessarily overcome ineffective leadership, chronic understaffing, poor communication, or an unhealthy workplace culture.
Employers Want to Grow Despite Hiring Challenges
While employees remain open to changing jobs, employers continue to need more people. Among respondents answering the employer hiring questions, 61% said their organization plans to expand headcount, while 35% expect to maintain current staffing levels. Only 4.1% anticipate reducing headcount.
Unfortunately, recruiting does not appear to be getting substantially easier. Only 3.3% of hiring respondents said recruiting had become significantly easier than the previous year. Another 22.8% said it was somewhat easier but still challenging. Meanwhile, 44.7% said hiring conditions were about the same, and 29.3% said they had become more difficult.
In addition, 51.5% disagreed to some degree with the statement that their organization had experienced “no trouble finding the right candidates” during the previous 12 months. Only 32.9% agreed.
These results suggest that employers cannot depend on qualified candidates simply appearing when they advertise a position. Organizations that expect to grow need proactive recruiting strategies and candidate pipelines rather than waiting until vacancies become urgent.
Recruiting Requires Multiple Channels
Another important survey theme is the need for a multichannel recruiting strategy.
Job boards were the most frequently selected resource when candidates were asked where they look for jobs, with 60.4% selecting them. However, social media and word of mouth were each selected by 53.4%. External recruiters were selected by 26.8%, while conferences and tradeshows were selected by 24.4%.
Interestingly, where candidates look for jobs is not necessarily how they ultimately find them. Word of mouth was the largest named source of respondents’ current positions at 27.8%. Internal referrals accounted for 11.4%, compared with 11.1% for job boards and 8.7% for external recruiters.
These findings demonstrate the importance of relationships, professional networks, and employer reputation. Candidates may search job boards, but they also learn about opportunities through colleagues, recruiters, conferences, referrals, and social media. Consequently, employer branding should not be treated as something separate from recruiting. An organization’s reputation can directly influence its ability to attract candidates.
A Satisfied But Movable Workforce
Ultimately, the survey reveals a significant tension within the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession.
On one side is a workforce that is generally more satisfied than dissatisfied. Most respondents do not report extremely low job happiness, and a substantial majority express at least some satisfaction with their compensation. On the other side is a workforce that remains highly open to change.
More than three-quarters of respondents look at jobs at least occasionally. Only slightly more than one-third say they plan to retire with their current employer. Most have at least one workplace concern, with understaffing, leadership, workload, communication, compensation, and culture among the leading issues.
Meanwhile, employers continue to compete for talent. A majority of hiring respondents plan to expand headcount, even though many continue to experience difficulty finding the right candidates. This means employers are not simply competing for unemployed or dissatisfied professionals. They are competing for people who already have jobs and may even be relatively happy in those jobs.
Organizations that succeed will recognize that recruiting and retention are closely connected. They will offer competitive compensation while also addressing leadership, staffing, communication, flexibility, work-life balance, culture, benefits, and career growth. They will also build relationships with potential candidates before hiring needs become urgent and recognize that an employee who is satisfied today could still become a candidate tomorrow.
The survey does not portray an Animal Health and Veterinary workforce in crisis. Instead, it reveals a more nuanced challenge: employees may be satisfied enough to stay today, but movable enough to leave tomorrow.
We invite you to find out more about our Animal Health and Veterinary recruiting services for employers and also learn more about our recruiting process and how we can help you fill your critical positions in 2026.
We help support careers in one of two ways: 1. By helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals to find the right opportunity when the time is right, and 2. By helping to recruit top talent for the critical needs of Animal Health and Veterinary organizations. If this is something that you would like to explore further, please send an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.