The Number

A poll last month by OfficeTeam, a subsidiary of staffing firm Robert Half, found that 41 percent of Los Angeles workers said they would leave their job for one with better pay. Nationally, 44 percent of workers said they would quit for more money. It was by far the top reason for leaving; second-place concerns such as “working for a company with a higher mission” or “bored” were cited by only 12 percent of respondents. Alexandra Von Tiergarten, regional vice president for Robert Half in Westlake Village, said that Los Angeles ranked high on the list, but not the highest among the 28 metro market surveyed. That distinction went to Des Moines, Iowa at 54 percent. “In Southern California, San Diego was the highest at 50 percent,” Von Tiergarten said. “Miami is one of the lowest at 28 percent.” Other numbers indicate that quitting isn’t a theoretical scenario. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that 3.6 million people left their jobs in May – a national 17-year high. Von Tiergarten noted that there were 6.6 million jobs openings in May, giving workers plenty of employment options. And she credited “savvy hiring managers who understand what they need to do to get people to quit their jobs.” She counseled employees who want better pay to first give their current employer a chance before looking elsewhere. “They should make sure they can’t make the job work,” she said. “We encourage them to use negotiation and salary guides to get the compensation that’s the best they can get.” Many companies don’t have the budget for higher salaries, but they can find ways to offer value to employees, such as more vacation days, different start times to ease commuting or working from home. “Employers understand you have to give more flexibility to the workforce to retain them,” Von Tiergarten concluded. “It’s going to become the norm.” – Joel Russell