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

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”