Figuratively Speaking: Survey: CFOs see consulting as a step toward retirement

Percentage of chief financial officers who said they view consulting as an attractive segue into retirement, according to a survey developed by Robert Half International: 75

Percentage of CFOs who identified being able to remain in the work force but work fewer hours as one of the greatest benefits of consulting: 47

On the move

Estimated number of Americans who move to a new location every year, according to research conducted by the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing: 40 million

Percentage of adults who admit to feeling some level of anxiety about moving: 70

Percentage who say they dread it completely: 35

Climbing the corporate ladder

Percentage of HR professionals who ranked the transition from a seasoned professional to a supervisory/managerial position as the most difficult, according to a survey conducted by Novations Group: 65

Percentage who said the same about the transition between a supervisory/managerial position to a senior management/executive position: 18

Percentage who said the same about the transition between entry-level position to seasoned professional: 17

Job switches

Percentage of employees who say that they left their jobs to seek new challenges or opportunities that were lacking with their previous employers, according to a study by Right Management: 30

Percentage of respondents who reported leaving employers because of ineffective leadership: 25

Percentage who cited poor relationships with their managers: 22

Average percentage increase of an employee's salary that it costs to replace an employee (this includes recruitment, training, severance, lost productivity and lost opportunities): 300

Luring new talent

Percentage of hiring managers who said they are willing to negotiate compensation for top candidates, according to a survey by CareerBuilder.com: 65

Percentage of hiring managers who said Generation Y employees (born between 1979 and 1999) are the most difficult to recruit, perhaps because of high expectations about pay, career advancement, flexible schedules and overall work environment: 56

Take a break

Percentage of workers who returned to the work force in the last 12 months after taking at least one year off who said they found a job in less than one month, according to a survey from CareerBuilder.com: 45

Percentage who said they found a job in one to six months: 33

Percentage who said their job hunt lasted more than a year: 14

Career changes

Percentage of U.S. workers who say they have switched careers, according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press: 61

Percentage of U.S. workers who say they have switched careers two or more times: 39

Estimated number of people ages 44 to 70 who have encore careers, according to the MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures, a national think tank in San Francisco: 5.3 million

Retirees on the clock

Percentage of Americans who say they don't think Social Security will survive beyond the baby boomer retirement era, according to a survey conducted by the American Payroll Association: 67

Percentage of baby boomers who say they will work after retirement, according to the Merrill Lynch New Retirement Study: 71

Percentage of men and women who said their reason for retiring was to do other things, according to The Cornell Retirement and Well-Being Study: 69.5

John MacIntyre is a Nova Scotia-based author and former city magazine editor. His "Figuratively Speaking" column, launched in 1989, is published in more than 40 newspapers and magazines.