That was always my complaint when I was a retail manager. I’d try to schedule enough people to be able to operate short-staffed, and corporate always said “no”, so when someone called in sick we had to panic.
That extra staffer that at 9-12 bucks an hour (this was a while back) didn’t seem so wasteful when being short one employee due to illness could cost a couple grand an hour in lost income.
“But if you have too many employees to keep everyone busy, they won’t be working as hard!”
Employees cost far more than most think, and that cost is the employers number one expense. Add it all up and $9-$12 comes out more like $16-$22. But the upfront costs in hiring a new person is the real kicker.
Advertising, interviewing, HR and IT onboarding, extra unemployment taxes on the initial income, training, all that stacks. Also, consider how useless a new employee is vs. one that’s been on task for some time. And that employee is taking valuable time from an experienced worker!
Would being short one employee really cost thousands an hour? Can’t think of such a retail space. ?
But yeah, low-end employers are damned short sighted. Given the upfront costs of new employees, shouldn’t they be working hard to retain folks? Speaking of costs, at the employment firm I worked IT at, we’d charge higher rates for payroll if a company had shit turnover. We knew we’d be paying extra unemployment insurance, and don’t quote me, but I think there was a higher worker’s comp cost. In any case, if turnover was high, that was a sign of a shit employer who would be a shit client.
I worked in a destination outdoors chain. My departments I ran at different points were firearms and marine electronics. Both were high-dollar purchases that usually involve 1:1 interactions with workers.
When someone doesn’t buy a $4000 sonar unit because nobody was on the floor in that department it hurts.
Agree with this take 100%. Retaining employees also retains institutional knowledge. I worked in a call center for a vision insurance company. I lasted 5 years where most new hires lasted less than 1 year. By the time I left I had in-depth knowledge about materials used in eye-wear, wholesale costs, how prescriptions translated into the type of correction being performed and how that would impact lens thickness, claims processing, medicaid billing rules, HIPAA, and how the affordable care act worked. The company decided to pass me over for multiple promotions, had no raises, refused to allow me to take my PTO, get paid out for my PTO, or let my PTO roll over. Just got fed up one day and rage quit. I moved to a medical insurance company that paid 5$ more per hour, ($18 vs the $13 I was making at the first place,) to obtain all that knowledge. I learned even more at the new company, until they started pulling the same shit. So I rage quit again. All of that knowledge left with me, and I got a state job that comes with a pension, fuck tons of sick, vacation, and personal time that rolls over and no one questions when I need to use it, along with a $10 per hour raise, ($18 per our at the old place, $28 per hour at the state job.) I’m much happier and much less stressed now. What’s sad is that all it really would have took to make me happy at either of the first jobs was being able to take my PTO. I was willing to overlook a lot of the other bullshit like the lack of wage progression and growth. These bean counters are penny wise and pound foolish.
Fucking yes! Hang in, get the experience they’re paying you to steal, run away. It’s crazy that people focus on employers fucking us when we can be fucking them!.
I wish I had learned to jump ship sooner instead of swallowing so much bullshit. The social contract is dead. Right to work cuts both ways bitches. Quit with no notice when employers haven’t done shit to earn your loyalty. The bridges we burn today light the path forward.
That was always my complaint when I was a retail manager. I’d try to schedule enough people to be able to operate short-staffed, and corporate always said “no”, so when someone called in sick we had to panic.
That extra staffer that at 9-12 bucks an hour (this was a while back) didn’t seem so wasteful when being short one employee due to illness could cost a couple grand an hour in lost income.
“But if you have too many employees to keep everyone busy, they won’t be working as hard!”
“Okay. Great!”
Employees cost far more than most think, and that cost is the employers number one expense. Add it all up and $9-$12 comes out more like $16-$22. But the upfront costs in hiring a new person is the real kicker.
Advertising, interviewing, HR and IT onboarding, extra unemployment taxes on the initial income, training, all that stacks. Also, consider how useless a new employee is vs. one that’s been on task for some time. And that employee is taking valuable time from an experienced worker!
Would being short one employee really cost thousands an hour? Can’t think of such a retail space. ?
But yeah, low-end employers are damned short sighted. Given the upfront costs of new employees, shouldn’t they be working hard to retain folks? Speaking of costs, at the employment firm I worked IT at, we’d charge higher rates for payroll if a company had shit turnover. We knew we’d be paying extra unemployment insurance, and don’t quote me, but I think there was a higher worker’s comp cost. In any case, if turnover was high, that was a sign of a shit employer who would be a shit client.
I worked in a destination outdoors chain. My departments I ran at different points were firearms and marine electronics. Both were high-dollar purchases that usually involve 1:1 interactions with workers.
When someone doesn’t buy a $4000 sonar unit because nobody was on the floor in that department it hurts.
Ah! Never worked high-stakes retail like that. I get it now.
Agree with this take 100%. Retaining employees also retains institutional knowledge. I worked in a call center for a vision insurance company. I lasted 5 years where most new hires lasted less than 1 year. By the time I left I had in-depth knowledge about materials used in eye-wear, wholesale costs, how prescriptions translated into the type of correction being performed and how that would impact lens thickness, claims processing, medicaid billing rules, HIPAA, and how the affordable care act worked. The company decided to pass me over for multiple promotions, had no raises, refused to allow me to take my PTO, get paid out for my PTO, or let my PTO roll over. Just got fed up one day and rage quit. I moved to a medical insurance company that paid 5$ more per hour, ($18 vs the $13 I was making at the first place,) to obtain all that knowledge. I learned even more at the new company, until they started pulling the same shit. So I rage quit again. All of that knowledge left with me, and I got a state job that comes with a pension, fuck tons of sick, vacation, and personal time that rolls over and no one questions when I need to use it, along with a $10 per hour raise, ($18 per our at the old place, $28 per hour at the state job.) I’m much happier and much less stressed now. What’s sad is that all it really would have took to make me happy at either of the first jobs was being able to take my PTO. I was willing to overlook a lot of the other bullshit like the lack of wage progression and growth. These bean counters are penny wise and pound foolish.
Fucking yes! Hang in, get the experience they’re paying you to steal, run away. It’s crazy that people focus on employers fucking us when we can be fucking them!.
I wish I had learned to jump ship sooner instead of swallowing so much bullshit. The social contract is dead. Right to work cuts both ways bitches. Quit with no notice when employers haven’t done shit to earn your loyalty. The bridges we burn today light the path forward.