More companies are experiencing higher employee turnover—leading to a drop in productivity as senior employees now have to train new hires.
Key Details
- During the pandemic, an increasing number of employees left their jobs—many to pursue new careers or simply seek higher-paying positions.
- While many companies have been able to replace their employees, the high turnover levels have prevented them from operating at full capacity as procedures are bogged down by necessary training time.
- Nearly 4.5 million workers left their jobs in November 2021, The New York Times reports. While fewer employees are leaving jobs, employee turnover remains high.
- Some job sectors, such as the hospitality industry, are affected more than others.
- The turnover is slowing company productivity, but it may also be slowing the overall economic productivity.
Why it’s news
While job switching may lead to better conditions for employees, the wave of job hopping could contribute to a slowing economy, according to some economists.
The last few years have seen a decrease in productivity rather than the increase many economists expected. Job hopping could be a contributing factor.
Employee training takes time and slows down the employee conducting the training. As a result, productivity declines. Typically, training a few employees a year has little to no effect, but a near-constant need to train new employees starts to add up.
Even after initial training, a new employee may not be productive for a few weeks or months, depending on the job. Whichever senior employee is shadowing the new hire will also see a decrease in effectiveness.
Adding to employers’ troubles, many of these employees will leave after only a few months of training—starting the process all over again.
Typically, turnover signifies a healthy, growing workforce as employees seek the best places where they fit in. But the excess of job hopping is creating the opposite effect.
There is some hope for employers, however. The number of job hoppers is beginning to decline. In part, employees are less sure about the economy and hope to hold on to their current jobs. Additionally, more companies are focusing on employee retention and working with employees to encourage them to stay.