Worker Retention Starts with Easing Employee Stress and Strain
Employees are leaving worksites in droves—finding ways to give workers ownership of their safety and health could help retention.
- By Dr. Kevan Orvitz
- Feb 01, 2022
Giving two-week notice is no longer a rare courtesy, it is a frequent occurrence in workplaces across America. Recently, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shared that 4.3 million Americans, just under three percent of the whole workforce, left their jobs in August this year. Referred to as the Great Resignation, this exodus is affecting almost every industry.
Although the economy is recovering from the COVID-19 Pandemic, alongside a rise in vaccinations, the number of new available jobs is in a tired slump. Employees are choosing to leave their jobs for a multitude of various reasons. Experts around the country are trying to detangle the motives behind this surging movement.
The narrative behind the Great Resignation, is not just a tale of employees leaving their job for greener pastures. It is become a story of pent-up demand for hiring new workers. Statistics show that these trends are mostly affecting blue collar workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that individuals working in trade, transportation and utilities are in the top sectors of jobs affected by resignations. Manufacturing, construction, mining and logging are not far behind.
It is also important to address the statistics we cannot yet uncover, the ones brewing in the minds of workers across the country. It is the workers contemplating leaving the job that employers need to be mindful of. Recently, CNBC and global gender equality firm Catalyst, presented a report titled, “The Great Work/Life Divide” in which they discovered that almost 50 percent of employees are thinking about quitting their job. The report also provides some eye-opening insight:
*41 percent of respondents were considering leaving their job because they believed employers did not care about their wellbeing.
*76 percent wanted their company to make work permanently flexible.
*A third of employees thinking about leaving their current job would be staying in the same industry
These statistics and findings shed an informative light onto the struggles facing every employer and workplace. Amidst the tsunami of resignations, employers are beginning to wonder how they can retain employees and prevent losses. Employees who leave their job don’t simply wake up one morning and decide to quit. These workers reach a breaking point, after months of seemingly endless work-related strain and stress.
Success Starts with Discussion
This article originally appeared in the February 1, 2022 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.