Job seekers believe that loyalty does not necessarily pay, even in the current difficult economic climate, according to the latest in a series of employment trends reports from The New York Times Job Market research team.
Only 51% of job seekers believe that loyalty to a company is helpful to the individual. By contrast, a worryingly high 40% say it makes no difference and 9% believe that loyalty to the company actually works against an individual. At the same time, almost all hiring managers (97%) and job seekers (87%) agree that loyalty does make employees more productive.
The cost of leavers
With those findings in mind, companies need to ask themselves if there are any other benefits in fostering a loyal employee base, and how great the financial consequences are. According to the report, 67% of hiring managers say that it is worth fostering loyalty, explaining that it is more expensive to recruit a new employee than it is to retain a current one.
The hiring managers estimated that, on average, it costs US$10,000 or more to replace an employee who leaves - and that average employee stays in the same organisation for eight consecutive years. The average job seeker reports staying at a company for only six consecutive years.
What makes them loyal?
When asked what fosters loyalty, respondents most often identified the following attributes: