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I have searched in Reverso Context to find out how to say in English that I want to work in a different field (one, not several). The expression I have found is change jobs.

But if I had literally translated from the French expression, I would have written change job without an "s".

I would like to know which translation I should use. If it's the translation with "s", why is there an "s"? Normally I quit a job to take one other job, not several jobs. Therefore I don't understand why jobs should be plural.

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    I'm afraid that almost any translation generated by an Internet site is going to be questionable. You should always consult native speakers before posting your cv or submitting a letter or application. Change jobs is the idiomatic expression generally used. If you're looking for a noun, the phrase is job change. Changer d'emploi and changer de boulot are always written in the singular; this is a distinct difference between French and English with similar constructions. Ex : changer de voiture and change cars.
    – Isabel Archer
    Commented May 22, 2020 at 21:36
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    If you were in your Ferrari but needed to carry 8 people to a party would you go home to switch car or switch cars?
    – Jim
    Commented May 22, 2020 at 23:32
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    I'd switch cars. Of course, I'd have to leave all those people where they were while they waited for me to come back. They could pass the time speculating about how many cars I would come back with.
    – Isabel Archer
    Commented May 23, 2020 at 2:29

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To my understanding, the phrase change jobs represents an exchange of one job for another, it is plural because there are essentially two jobs involved in the exchange.

Similarly, an item can change hands from one person to another, or you can change airlines while traveling, etc.

A search in the Corpus of Contemporary American English shows 323 results for change jobs and 3 for change job.

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