by Sara Wakefield, Vice President of Contact Center Sales
The Great Resignation that characterized the COVID-19 pandemic – the timing unfortunately coincided with the retirement of Baby Boomers that the outbreak accelerated – changed the job market in a significant and seemingly permanent way.
A September 2022 PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll, for example, found that 38% of American adults changed jobs during the past two years. That’s up from 32% in 2018.
While better pay was the top reason for changing jobs (32% of respondents), nearly one quarter (23%) said they joined another company for a better career opportunity. Many experts believe job switching will remain elevated for the foreseeable future.
Moreover, sales rep turnover: counter, floor, inside sales, and field sales turnover has long been a thorn in the side of most businesses. According to the 2021 Bureau of Labor Statistics report (via Apollo Technical) the voluntary turnover rate in the U.S. is 25%. At B2B sales departments, it’s even worse. One study by SiriusDecisions (now part of Forrester), cited by Xactly in its blog, calculated that about half (45%) of B2B sales teams have turnover rates around 30%.
Employee retention initiatives will continue to be doubly important for sales leaders. Their most productive sales reps may start looking for better compensation to offset surging inflation that is likely to affect the economy for the rest of this year.
