Who's Quitting?

I know you've probably all been hearing about the unemployment rates (ever on the rise it seems) but I was sent an interesting article today (Thanks JN) that highlighted the U.S. Worker Quit Rate. Not surprisingly, given all the talk we're hearing about long term unemployment, hesitancy to unfreeze the hiring process, etc., U.S. workers are increasingly less likely to quit their jobs during this economic uncertainty.

I did a quick (very quick, so please don't take my information as indicative of ALL information) search on the U.S. Quit Rate and History of such. Yes, the current rate is low, low, low but historically (through all of time), it has often been low. What is of note, is the variation since 2000 (see tiny image below).


The quit rate, which reflects the cautiousness of U.S. Workers, clearly reflects the fact that workers are being extremely cautious right now. It's not a shocking revelation but it does hit home for me. I wrote about this a bit early on in the life of Quitsville (see Payback will be a b****!) but I think it will be interesting to see where the flood gates open when the economy has stopped licking its wounds and has fully rebounded. Which companies will see their employees giving notice in groups and which companies will be able to take comfort in the way they treated their employees when the chips were down.

The very low quit rate (1.4%) also helps bring home just how lucky I have been. There is a perfectly sane reason while the quit rate is low and I know I am the exception, not the rule.

Click here to read the entire article on Reuters.com