Employee Loyalty in Tough Economies

When the economy is struggling, you would think that employees would be more loyal to their organizations, because finding a new job would take time and effort, with no guarantee of success. Yet it appears according to most reports that this is not the case – that people are still leaving their jobs at a rapid pace, with some reports claiming that people are leaving even more often. Here are several possible reasons this may be occurring: Freelance Jobs Freelance and consulting jobs are on the rise.

Technology jobs have made it less necessary to continue to be paid a salary while working in an office. Many people – especially youth – are tired of the idea that they need to be paid to be in the office when they can complete their work early, with no guarantee of an increase in pay if they do their job well. Freelance jobs allow people to work from home with freedom, and give people the opportunity to start a potentially more profitable (or at least less stressful) career.

Low Pay Companies are starting to decrease pay in order to save money. Pay, of course, being one of the main motivators for leaving to find a new job. This may be one of the issues that companies need to remedy first as well, because the amount they save in salary is likely being wasted by employees that seek out new roles with other companies.

Hiring the Overqualified Those that are overqualified for most jobs are being forced to take jobs for less pay, but as most companies are aware, taking these jobs can result in the employee leaving once they find one that meets their needs. It is one of the reasons that being overqualified is often a reason not to hire someone at a job interview. Avoiding Adequate Compensation Much like the idea of offering low pay in general (as well as the rise of freelance jobs), companies are looking to pay people a certain number, without regard to productivity.

Raises are becoming few and far between, and the best employees are often not getting rewarded for their hard work, forcing them to lose satisfaction and find work elsewhere. Hiring Younger Employees Finally, companies have started to look towards hiring younger employees as a way to save money. It’s been well documented that some companies are laying off older workers to get low cost youth.

But the low cost youth are also the most fickle when it comes to keeping a job. One might even wonder if keeping the older employee would have been a more financially beneficial option.

Regardless of the specific cause, it’s clear that employee loyalty is not that strong. Despite the difficult economy, most people are not clinging to their jobs like you would expect. The above list is something that you may need to keep in mind when you decide how to handle employee loyalty in the future.