Long Hours Are Driving Employees Away

It’s no secret that the labor market is as tight as it has been in decades. The shortage of skilled workers means that companies must work harder than they can remember to find good long-term employees. Companies are doing whatever they can to manage the challenge. Some are automating work with the use of computers, robots and other machinery. Some are using a combination of lower hiring standards and more on-the-job training. Even with these initiatives, companies are still struggling to find good people that fit their businesses and are willing to do the job.

So, what is the newest trend in the labor market?

It has recently come to our attention that more and more companies are significantly increasing the work hours of their existing employees in order to manage their shortage of personnel. For example, what was once a 12-hour four-day shift became a 12-hour five-day shift and then became a 12-hour six-day shift. While the overtime is attractive, workers are beginning to hit their limit at 60, 70 or 80 hour weeks.

It has become a full movement in recent months for high-quality employees to reach out to our employment agency in search of more normal and sustainable hours. They love the pay, but they are willing to sacrifice it to find a company that will allow them to have a life and more time with the loved ones. It has also been communicated to us that employees feel that the company does not have their best interests in mind if they continue to work them for so many hours.

We offer this “Trend Alert” as a warning to employers that increasing hours is not necessarily a sustainable solution to the skilled labor shortage. In fact, it may actually make your problems worse when your best long-term employees start heading for the door.

We recommend doubling down on recruiting efforts. Consider working with a company like ours, Xemplar Workforce Solutions, which specializes in sourcing skilled, long-term employees for clients. Our company has developed a consistent track record enabling our clients to beat the skilled labor shortage and acquire the talent they need.

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Adam Himoff is President of Xemplar, an innovative recruiting and workforce solutions company that enables U.S. clients to beat the skilled labor shortage. Xemplar was recently recognized as Salt Lake City’s #1 rated employment agency by Top Rated Local! To learn more about Xemplar visit our website at www.xemplar.com.