Remote work leads to higher employee attrition rate, report shows

Police officers, restaurant staff and bankers are among professions with the highest turnover rates in a study of US job volatility.

That is in part because US employees are now more interested in exploring other opportunities or unsolicited recruiting messages than ever before, according to the report from Workforce Logiq, a provider of recruiting and workforce-managing tools. 

Workforce Logiq found that bankers are most likely to cite mental health issues as a main reason to leave their job and many are not receptive to being called back to the office. Other categories with high churn rates are software engineers and information technology professionals, two professions that are in high demand.

“All professional and knowledge workers are at much higher risk than a year ago,” said Christy Petrosso, Workforce Logiq’s chief data scientist.

The reasons behind the increase in quits rates are multiple. The rise in remote work during the pandemic made many white-collar employees apprehensive or reluctant to return to the office, leading some to seek a position that offers the flexibility to work from home. Many people have also reassessed their work-life balance and either retired or are more open to taking jobs that are less stressful. 

Attrition may get worse, according to a recent McKinsey survey, which found that 36% of respondents who had quit in the previous six months did so without having a new job lined up.

Businesses in the leisure and hospitality industry are the most at risk for losing workers, but many health-care and white-collar employees say they also plan to leave their jobs, according to the survey, which covered five countries including the US, Canada and UK.

In addition, according to the Workforce Logiq report, a July executive order that limits the use of noncompete clauses will give some US employees the freedom to pursue other jobs.

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