Headlines

Hang on to Your People — Americans Are Quitting Their Jobs in Droves

Published

7 years ago

March 20, 2017

INSTORE Staff

But things aren’t all bad.

Finding and keeping good people is a challenge for business owners — and it’s getting tougher.

The number of Americans quitting their jobs hit a 16-year high in January, Yahoo Finance reports. The rate was 2.2 percent, which amounted to a seasonally adjusted total of just over 3.2 million.

That’s bad if you’re a business owner who doesn’t relish the thought of having to replace valuable workers. But it’s potentially a good sign for the economy overall, as workers are “unlikely to quit a job unless they are confident they can get another one,” Yahoo notes.

The data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Several other recent reports have also suggested a positive outlook for the U.S. economy. For example, the National Federation of Independent Business found high levels of optimism among small business owners.

Last Year’s INSTORE Big Survey looked at the issue of why jewelers quit their jobs. We asked, “If you have full-time employees, did any quit in the last 12 months?” As it turns out, 63 percent said no, and 37 percent said yes.

We then asked the “yes” respondents what the reasons for the turnover were.

The top reasons, starting with the most common, were to take another non-jewelry job, to move out of the area, to return to school and to have children or other family reasons.

Read more at Yahoo Finance

Looking for a Seamless Sale? Call Wilkerson

After almost 60 years in business, Breakiron Jewelers in Erie, Pennsylvania, was closing its doors. And the store’s owner, Linda Breakiron, was ready for it. She had run the store as its sole owner since the beginning of the millennium and was looking forward to a change. Of course, she called Wilkerson. Breakiron talked to other jewelers who had used Wilkerson and was satisfied with their response. “They always had positive feedback,” she recalls. With the sales, marketing and even additional inventory that Wilkerson provided, Breakiron insists she could never have accomplished her going-out-of-business sale without Wilkerson’s help. She’s now ready for the journey ahead, but looking back, she’d be sure to recommend Wilkerson. “They just made the whole process very seamless.”