Indeed, a moment like the first week in January is what we call a career risk trigger: when career satisfaction levels are at a low and job search activity is high. Other examples include birthdays, career anniversaries, and large gatherings with friends or classmates—any moment that might prompt someone to think harder about the course of their career or life. Not only does the new year mark the passage of time, it directly follows the holiday season, when major gatherings are common, so it makes sense that it would be a career risk trigger as well.
What employers often fail to realize is that if these triggers can be predicted, they're the best time to have career conversations with employees. Unfortunately, most employers still schedule these conversations around the HR calendar, rather than optimizing their timing around when employees are most likely to start checking the job boards. If you target them to your employees' career risk triggers, on the other hand, you can make sure that when they're thinking the hardest about their career path, they're talking to you and not a recruiter from one of your competitors.
CEB members can read more about career risk triggers here.