I have a friend who is one of the steadiest guys in the world. He is extremely talented, has worked for some large companies and has an impressive list of degrees. However, he has been working on his career path since the moment he graduated college in 1992.
He has worked for 4-5 year stints at a few companies before joining a company now that is the realization of his chosen path. The humorous aspect of his journey is that his employer is an old company. Their initial review of his stellar resume was this – he is a jobhopper. I still laugh when I think about that line applied to him.
It is all perspective, right? He thought his 5 year stints were fairly secure while this company viewed it as risky. He got the due to a strong recommendation despite the hiring manager’s concerns. My friend has since started to climb up the corporate ladder with one success after another.
His story came to mind when I read this article from abcnews.com. The article speaks to the increasing number of employees who work from home. But tucked inside the article is this information (emphasis mine):
Having to replace a star employee who flies the coop can cost a company 150 to 200 percent of that worker’s salary, Seitel says. Considering Millennials and some of the youngest Gen X employees job-hop every one to three years, she adds, that turnover gets pretty pricey. Employers must spend time and money to hire and train new employees while sustaining losses in productivity, she said.
The hiring manager from my friend’s company would have a myocardial infarction if he read that statistic. Every 1 to 3 years they change jobs! The entire jobhopping definition is going to be turned on it’s ear by Gen Y. They are looking for a career path like my friend except they are not going to be as patient.
Retention will continue to be a top priority this year and will increase with time. Nomadism is going to be one important, low-cost tool for companies in their quest to keep their top employees.