The Coming Crisis In Employee Turnover

[babylonsister]

http://www.forbes.com/home/leadership/2007/04/24/employees-turnover-careers-lead-careers-cz_bk_0425turnover.html

The Coming Crisis In Employee Turnover
Bernadette Kenny, 04.25.07, 6:00 AM ET



Most companies take it as an article of faith that they've done right by their employees. Each year performance reviews are given, promotions granted and, in a number of cases, raises and bonuses are handed out. No need, then, for managers to worry about their staffing plan, much less about which leaders and employees will stay, which will leave and what you should do about both scenarios. They're covered. Right?

In today's competitive work environment, managers should think again. Such complacency is based on an illusion, making it unwarranted. Leaders and managers are fielding increased recruiter calls, and employees are seeing a swell in help wanted ads. Employees at all levels are taking note of the job market.

According to comScore Media Metric, a Reston, Va.-based service that measures Internet usage, almost one-third of all American Internet users visited a career services site last January, with job searches on Web sites for Monster (nasdaq: MNST - news - people ), Career Builder and Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ) growing by an average of 32% over the previous year.

So beware of the turning tides. I predict, based on my experience in the staffing and recruiting industry, that the "quit rate"--employees leaving jobs without being fired, laid off or otherwise forced out--will soar this year, especially with the U.S. economy robust and unemployment at its lowest since 2001. In my view, employee turnover is already threatening to mushroom into a national workplace crisis. And all levels of employees are vulnerable.

Given events over the last five years, this employee exodus should surprise no one. Back in the late 1990s, some companies, especially those in the high-tech industry, pulled out all the stops to court job candidates and guarantee employee satisfaction. If employees expected it or merely asked for it--the option to telecommute, flexible hours, lunchtime massages, you name it--they pretty much got it. In the bid to draw talent, companies promised the world. Then came the recession, followed by Sept. 11, 2001.

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[Jim__]

1. Some employees are quitting my company.

But they're not being replaced in North America. My company does no more hiring in North America. Any replacements are hired in India or China.

[demnan]

2. A lot of people have left my company lately

but I work for an association where the benefits are great and the salaries are a little lower. Younger people than I are looking at the wage only when they take a job. I'm fifty so I'm sticking here to vest the retirement and 401K.

[rosesaylavee]

3. Give me some of what she's smokin'

Just more RW blather. The economy sucks and employment is not as rosy as she paints it.

[Sherman A1]

4. Agreed