HR Industry News

Companies fall victim in war for talent

— 15 April 2008 —

The war for talent is making it hard for companies to recruit and retain staff in West London and the Thames Valley, according to a recent survey.

Recruitment specialist Parkside found out that just under two thirds of those surveyed had been in their job less than two years, and just over two thirds planned to change employer within the next 6 months. 39% of those who said they would be changing jobs claimed it was for salary, while 28% said that they were leaving because of their employer’s “culture and ethics”.

The picture is one of flux and of decreasing loyalty towards employers. In a similar poll in 2007, staff turnover reached 30%. This year, however, that figure has stretched to 42%.

Jennie Emerson, MD at Parkside, pointed towards a trend of shorter career cycles within ‘Generation Y’ spreading to other generations: “We’re now seeing that this is spreading to staff of all ages as the old idea of long-term loyalty to a company dies out. Organisations need to understand what really motivates their workforce and to adopt a clearly defined strategy for both recruitment and retention.”

Paul Avis from Ceridian comments, “The old days of looking purely at the bottom line salary figure have been expanded now into areas such as flexible benefits where employees can buy/sell holiday, increase/decrease car allowances and so forth to fit their lifestyle and aspirations. However many employees are also seeking an improved work-life balance and this represents a real challenge for employers as many demand a long hours, performance-managed approach to employee engagement.”

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