The end of a job for life?

According to a new report on job turnover from the CIPD, the proportion of workers leaving their employer at any given time fell by over two fifths between 1998 and 2012, presenting businesses with challenges in establishing cultures of innovation, but equally allowing for invaluable long-term retention of employee knowledge and skills.

The report presents data from the Office for National Statistics showing that in October-December 2012, 2.6% of employees left their jobs, compared with a figure of 4.5% for the same period in 1998.

Most employees leave their jobs voluntarily (due to resignation, retirement and for other reasons) rather than involuntarily (dismissals and redundancies). Turnover is highest among young people and lowest among the over 50s. Since 2008, average job tenure (the average period that people spend in their job) has been increasing. This is a trend that has been seen in a number of other countries including the USA.

Mark Beatson, chief economist at the CIPD comments:

“This is a trend that seems to have crept up on us. We have been told for a long time to expect the end of the ‘job for life’ and more frequent changes of employers and careers but the data appears to have been moving in the opposite direction.”

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