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75% of Employees Are Looking for New Jobs
"PRINCETON, N.J. -- Fully 75% of all employees are looking for new employment opportunities, according to the 2004 U.S. Job Recovery and Retention Survey released recently by the Society for Human Resource Management and CareerJournal.com. Nearly 40% of the human resource professionals surveyed said they have noticed an increase in turnover since the beginning of 2004.The top three reasons employees say they are looking to leave their current positions, according to the survey, are:Better compensation elsewhere (43%)Better career opportunities (32%)Dissatisfaction with opportunities at current job (22%)"During a poor economy, employees tend to stay put," says Tony Lee, editor in chief, CareerJournal.com. "As the economy improves, interest in jumping ship rises dramatically among employees who are ready to earn more money and find enhanced opportunities for advancement.""With so many employees already looking for jobs, the expertise of HR professionals is extremely important right now in retaining an organization's top talent," added Susan R. Meisinger, society president and chief executive officer. "HR professionals understand that it is far more expensive to recruit new employees than it is to retain them. Their efforts to create a positive work environment where employees are engaged, feel appreciated and see opportunities for career growth will help to decrease turnover rates."In the survey, employees were asked about their job-search activity; 35% of employees said they are actively job searching, and 40% are passively searching. Nearly half of the employed respondents said they would step up their job-seeking efforts as the job market improves. HR professionals believe that as employees leave their organization for new opportunities, most of the resignations will come from nonmanagement (69%) and middle-management (19%) positions.A quarter of the HR professionals surveyed also said they are very concerned about voluntary resignations. As a result, HR executives are implementing retention programs in their organizations to keep productive employees, the survey found. Retention programs include competitive merit increases, promoting qualified employees, career-development opportunities and bonuses. HR professionals consider competitive salaries (59%) and providing career-development opportunities (47%) as the most effective retention strategies.The Society for Human Resource Management is the world's largest association devoted to human resource management. Founded in 1948, SHRM currently has more than 500 affiliated chapters and members in more than 100 countries.CareerJournal.com is The Wall Street Journal's career site targeted to executives, managers and professionals.Visit CareerJournal.com: www.careerjournal.comVisit the Society for Human Resource Management: www.shrm.orgThis report is new this week in The Business Journal's small business how-to section. To see what else is new, click here or click on the "how-to" tab at the top of The Daily Business Journal Online home page."