The battle for talent has eased this year as economic growth has slowed, but it hasn’t gone away. In the U.S., companies still find themselves operating in an economy with only 3.7% unemployment—the lowest in half a century. And many still struggle to get the people they need.
Yesterday, during a virtual roundtable held in partnership with BCG, I asked a group of experienced CEOs from a variety of industries to discuss how they are dealing with the challenge of attracting and retaining talent. Some excerpts:
“Our research shows that 60% of people leave their companies because they don't see career opportunities. And yet we also did research that showed only 10% of open roles in companies in the U.S. are filled by internal candidates…So many companies have tried new things to ensure they are getting the talent they can from their own organization, and building the skills to make that possible.”
—Sharon Marcil, Regional Chair of North America, BCG
“I'm in a very competitive (tech) talent market. It never really slowed, and it's gotten harder and harder for me to keep up with the salaries that they're getting paid or getting offered at these bigger companies. So, a tool I have is to say we're hybrid…There is some expectation that you'll be in the office for various events and things, but it is not a strict three days or four days a week.”
—Peggy Johnson, CEO, Magic Leap
“We added net 100,000 additional employees in the company in the last 10 quarters, in a context where we were facing up to 30% rates of attrition. We had to create an environment where people feel: ‘This is the company I want to work for.’”
—Thierry Delaporte, CEO, Wipro Limited
“There's a lot of research that shows that almost half of workers no longer are committed to going above and beyond for their employers. And there's a lot of ‘quiet quitting’ on the job in a way that's dragging down productivity in the corporate sector. And so, being super engaged with your employees, getting them back in, and recreating why it's so important for them to be in… is important.”
—Doris Meister, CEO, Wilmington Trust
“If you look at the quit rates of last year, 50 million workers actually resigned from their jobs (in the U.S.) And that's the largest it's ever been in a given year. But now things are starting to stabilize. Quit rates have fallen. The ‘great resignation’ is becoming ‘the great stay,’ which allows all of us to take a pause and figure out what is best.”
—Maria Black, CEO, Automatic Data Processing.
“We’ve moved here in the U.S. from what was always hierarchically a career ladder to a career lattice. People kind of move from role to role as we’ve specialized and find different fulfillment. But it’s not all about moving up anymore.”
—Judy Marks, CEO, Otis Elevator
“What we focus in on is upskilling and reskilling. And that's the primary driver…Today's employees are actually feeling quite threatened with generative A.I. So they actually want to learn new skills to become relevant for the future.’
—Rohit Kapoor, CEO, EXL Service Holdings
“Our Chinese office workers or Japanese office workers, they’re in every day because they live in teeny little apartments and there’s no culture of work from home. Versus, say, tech workers in our Bay Area office, where it’s somehow appalling to ask them to come to the office, ever. And then we have manufacturing shift workers who are working literally day and night, all the time. The leadership challenge of our decade is: if you want them all to feel part of something bigger than themselves, how do you bring that together in a way that seems both fair and productive?”
—David Ricks, CEO, Eli Lilly
“On Fridays, I think I’m the only person in the office, and it’s driving me nuts.”
—John Schlifske, CEO, Northwestern Mutual
More news below. And enjoy the weekend (which, technically, is only two days.)
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
