Three Reasons IT Workers Quit

Employer Insights

reasons IT workers quit

When employee retention is low, many leaders assume their employees leave their jobs for higher salaries. However, it’s becoming increasingly prevalent that employees quit for non-monetary reasons. In the IT field, employees are almost always dealing with fast-breaking situations that can be extremely stressful and demanding. Because of this, your IT team deserves to be part of a culture that values their time and talents in the most respectful way. Understanding the most common reasons your employees quit is the first step to transforming your organization for the better. As you look at this past year’s employee retention rates and gear up for 2019, here are three of the most common reasons IT workers quit:

Unreasonable scheduling demands.

If the expectation at your workplace is for employees to work until 8 p.m. every night, this is a surefire way to lose your talent to the competition. Having unreasonable scheduling demands will result in employee burnout, and ultimately, a toxic workplace culture. Employees who constantly feel overworked and overburdened are quickly going to lose their motivation and burn out from mental and physical exhaustion. Understanding the role of work-life balance in your workplace culture is paramount for creating an environment that fosters optimal productivity and happiness among your employees.

Lack of professional development opportunities.

As the IT world continues to change at a rapid rate, most IT employees expect their employers to give them the tools and resources they need to continually learn and evolve with the field. Employers who fail to offer ample professional development opportunities will end up losing their most ambitious talent to companies that value growth and development. As an employer, the first step to counteracting this challenge is by evaluating what types of professional development outlets make sense for your team. For example, offering webinars or on-site lunch-and-learn sessions may be most beneficial. Or, you may want to consider annual IT conferences or networking events in which your team can learn from top industry leaders. What’s important is that you consider all the professional development options and evaluate what makes most sense for your organization.

Limited paid time off.

In many healthcare organizations, members of the IT team are “on call” to handle unexpected crises. While IT pros accept this is as part of the nature of their job, it’s important that they also get much-needed breaks from work. If your organization offers minimal time off, it’s likely your employees will experience greater burnout and start resenting coming to work each day. Taking a close look at how much paid time off you offer your employees is the first step in reducing burnout. Additionally, it’s important to encourage and remind your employees to take their allotted time off so they can return to work refreshed and renewed.

The end of each calendar year is the ideal time to evaluate employee retention outcomes and identify what types of changes can be made to improve poor retention. By addressing the reasons why your IT employees are quitting, you’ll increase job satisfaction among your team and improve the overall culture of your organization.