StatCenter: Why IT workers leave

by Mary Ann Fitzharris | Mar 16, 2000 8:00:00 AM

Takeaway: Are you confident that your best IT workers won't be leaving any time soon? Well, think again. This week's StatCenter reveals some compelling reasons why IT workers leave.

You spent so much time, energy, and money hiring the right IT staff members, but before long, you get the bad news: One of your best and brightest employees is leaving. Why? This week and next, StatCenter will examine some of the reasons IT workers leave.
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What you do to keep your employees
When a valuable employee leaves your company, they take both skills and knowledge with them. GartnerGroup suggests that it isn’t unusual for one key employee’s turnover to cost more than $100,000 when you factor in these elements:

Recruiter’s fees

Loss of the employee’s training and sign-on bonuses

Cost of temp workers to fill the gap

Low morale and lost momentum

Interviewing time and expenses
Salary differentials with the new employee and sign-on bonuses
Learning curves for the new employee
Travel and relocation costs

A CIO.com survey showed the following top incentives that companies use to keep their IT staff:

Training (92 percent of respondents)
Flexible schedules (72 percent)
Extra compensation (56 percent)
Exposure to other parts of the company (46 percent)
Telecommuting opportunities (32 percent)
New technology (4 percent)
Benefits (2 percent)
Challenge (2 percent)

And yet they leave

Why would they leave your cool company? In its 1999 survey of IT professionals, The Hay Group , an international human resources consulting firm, provides some data on reasons for leaving an IT job. The top reason cited was that employees no longer enjoy the work they’re doing. The challenge just isn’t there. (See chart 1.)

The Hay Group data also examines the differences in the reasons given by women and by men. For women, not having interesting work to do and a lack of technical training are the biggest problems. For men, the primary reason for leaving is a lack of interesting work, followed by lack of training and teamwork. (See chart 2.)

For younger IT workers—those under age 30—lack of advancement opportunities and interesting work are the major reasons for leaving. Least important to them is training in “soft skills.” And while tuition reimbursement was least important to the overall survey group, it was considerably more important to the under-30 crowd. (See chart 3.)