·         the turnover rate for HR functions was 7.5% whereas it’s been previously estimated at 20%[1]

·         39% of HR professionals said that staffing levels in the organizations were decreasing, and

·         77% of HR professionals stated that HR budgets were staying put or were decreasing[2]

The cost cutting measures didn’t endear employees to their organizations.  The Conference Board reported that in the U.S., job satisfaction hit its lowest level in two decades.[3]  According to a survey by Robert Half, CFOs said that during the recession they became so focussed on the bottom line, they forgot about their people. They reported their “greatest lesson” from the recession was to “place greater focus on maintaining employee morale”.[4]  Unfortunately, it required a recession for leaders to realize that they need to focus on their employees; it may be that executives and management outside of HR have finally started to understand the link between engagement and retention.

So how is 2010 fairing so far?  Although the economy is getting better, the words “jobless recovery” are frequently mentioned on the news. The employment numbers are getting better but they are by no means stellar. One good example of this improvement is the job postings on BC HRMA’s People Portal.  Between 2008 and 2009, there was a 53 per cent decrease in job postings.  However, for the first four months of 2010, job postings are up 12.5 per cent from the same period in 2009.  In other words, things are looking up but it’s not promising that organizations will turn into a hotbed of hiring any time soon.

Given that employee engagement is down and employment prospects are getting better, what does this mean for the average HR department? It’s fairly obvious that we can expect 2010’s annual HR turnover rate to increase. According to a survey published in the May 3, 2010 edition of Canadian HR Reporter:

·         33% of respondents reported that the size of their HR function will increase

·         35.7% of respondents reported that they are looking for a new position or to make a career move.

What do prospects look like if you’re about to graduate or are a recent graduate of an HR program? Unfortunately, the outlook for this year does not look good. Anecdotal evidence describes a frustrating job experience in which entry level job vacancies typically have hundreds of applications, many of them from experienced HR professionals. On the other hand, a frequently heard complain from new grads is that entry level jobs frequently require a minimum of two or more years of experience.  Combine the minimum job experience requirements with the volume of qualified job applicants available and what you get is job market where organizations have the pick of the litter for highly qualified hires.

The economy is on the way up as are employment opportunities.  We have some information that can help us envision the near future but nothing is certain and all we can do is wait and see what will eventually play out.  In the meantime, let’s see if we can predict what HR turnover will look like this year by answering the poll:

Helen Luketic, CHRP brings more than nine years of HR experience to her current role as HRIS Analyst at Vancity, where she’s assisting the organization implement new HR systems and processes. For her innovative achievements at Vancity, Helen was the recipient of BC HRMA’s 2008 Rising Star Award. In her previous role as Manager, HR Metrics & Research at BC HRMA, she combined her CHRP, B.A. in Economics, HR information systems knowledge and experience in HR metrics to develop the HR Metrics Service and related workshops, presentations and webinars to teach HR professionals about HR metrics and benchmarking.