It may not seem that job mobility has been a major concern in the public media for some time. Business owners are aware that when the job market becomes more fluid, retaining key skilled workers is an important function. Moreover, as a job market becomes more dynamic, having appropriate agreements in place to protect trade secrets and proprietary information often raises to the top of a business operator’s mind.
The topic comes up today as news breaks that the job market continues to strengthen. The increasingly robust market led to 2.8 million workers handing in resignation letters to their employers in September. The amount of turnover has not occurred in a single month since early 2008. Paul D’Arcy, who is chief of marketing at Indeed.com told USA Today that skilled workers in the technology, engineering and health care fields are moving from job-to-job at a fierce rate – some leaving a job for a better offer in a mere matters of months.
Keeping tabs on the job market is important for many successful companies. As talent becomes scarcer, recruiting and employment contract concerns return to the forefront. A solid positive that flows from increased job activity is that for some businesses it becomes easier to find key talent. Workers are more likely to be visible to recruiter.
In any market, it is important for companies to ensure that their employment contracts with employees, including any potential restrictive covenants, are in order to protect the business. As workers begin to look for new opportunities, the idea of reviewing contracts to protecting business interests should be of concern, especially when proprietary information is at stake.
Source: USA Today, “Job quits are blooming as economy brightens,” Paul Davidson, Dec. 3, 2014