our new hires keep quitting after their first week

by Alison Green on October 16, 2024

A reader writes:

Several times recently, we’ve had new graduates accept a job at our company, then quit after their first week with no notice. Should I say something about how unprofessional this is, or let them learn the hard lesson on their own? Or can we do something during the hiring profess to make it clear this isn’t acceptable?

It’s frustrating for us, but also damaging to them as this is a very small industry where employees move between companies frequently. Burning a bridge that early in their career is going to hurt them badly in a few years either when they try to come back here, or when someone from here is now working at their next company. And yes, it’s absolutely going to happen — our entire industry is set up for this constant shift and flow between companies depending on who has active projects.

My guess is they say yes to our company and sign on, then get offered a job at a company that is working on a flashier project.

Where this gets even more unfortunate is that most of the people in this industry aren’t full-time staff, but per-project contractors. (We’re following the law there.) That said, everyone is treated with full benefits like retirement and health insurance. It’s just an industry where you get hired for a fixed duration instead of as ongoing. That leads to the huge company mobility, but also means that it’s very frowned upon to break a contract instead of completing the project.

I’m frustrated for what these abrupt departures mean for my teams when they’re suddenly short-staffed, but I’m also concerned that these new graduates don’t understand how quickly they’re going to get a reputation for being too flakey to hire at all. They aren’t facing any explicit repercussions for bailing to another company after just one week, but they’re trashing their reputations. That they might not even realize it is why we’re trying to figure out if and how we should say something to them.

I answer this question over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

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{ 159 comments }

{ 159 comments… read them below or add one }

    1. darsynia*

      Right? I was a little surprised to see that not mentioned in the response, but it’s possible that the part about moving to a ‘flashier company’ means we’re meant to be taking that as the majority reason why employees are doing this.

      Still, a number of employees leaving so early is literally remarkable–conversations maybe need to be had throughout the department(s) that are losing these people to get a sense of why. Is it possible to ensure there are exit interviews, if it’s not solely ‘moving on up’ motivations?

      Reply ↓
      1. Hiding from My Boss*

        oh yes.

        I once took a job and learned that another candidate had been the no. 1 choice. She worked a week, then left a vmail that she wouldn’t be back. i considered that maybe, yeah, she’d been interviewing and someone else made her a better offer. couldn’t blame her for taking more $, shorter commute, better perks, whatever. There was a recession on & i was grateful to have a job when great people were begging for work. within days i saw how horrible the place was & soon learned that no one had stayed in that job for a full year for at least 4 years. Boss lied in the interview about why the job was open, there were low-level functions that were part of the job that weren’t divulged until after i started, my hours weren’t as promised in the first few weeks–I was looking again in no time, but shortly before my one-year mark, Boss reprimanded me for doing my job exactly as I was trained and created an incident so she could sack me.

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          1. Hiding from My Boss*

            could be, i never thought so much of that as keeping people off the 401k and not paying matching. back then it was common to have a 1-year waiting period to enroll.

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      2. Quill*

        If people move between companies frequently in this industry this is probably cost of doing business for this company, combined with them being less appealing than their competitors. Very likely LW’s offer is way lower than market for these people but hey, at least it’s a job – and the competitor is hiring just a couple weeks slower for a better offer.

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      3. HB*

        I was curious about this as well and so I looked up the original letter. The number of departures was 2 and Alison originally wrote back to ask if the LW had a sense as to why it was happening which is when the flashier project thing came up. LW said entire industry is project/contract based so people are constantly shifting between companies.

        Company could still be full of bees, but it made me less suspicious overall since LW’s question actually made a lot of sense. If the graduates are leaving for a flashier project, they’re also leaving for a specific *contract* and will have to find a new contract once it’s done. And if companies are basically constantly trading their contract employees back and forth, people on the team that got hurt once by someone leaving are going to express opinions about potential new contract hires.

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    2. New laptop who dis*

      I mean, there’s a not-zero chance that people are quitting immediately because your company is a terrible place to work.

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    3. BigBird*

      I was surprised Alison did not raise this possibility in her comments, as it was my first thought. The OP is assuming that they are accepting a subsequent offer from a company with a flashier project, but is this a fact or a mere assumption?

      Reply ↓
      1. Strive to Excel*

        I’m also surprised! I know that this is a refresh letter, and the original letter clarified that it had only happened twice. But especially since Alison is refreshing them, I’d expect something added about “are you sure they’re just leaving for better projects, and not something you’re doing?”

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      2. Reality.Bites*

        I’m wondering why if this employee swapping is such a thing, the other company seemed to have no qualms about the poaching

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        1. HB*

          I don’t think there is any poaching. If the new grads are quitting after a week, that means they have to be interviewing at Company B at least a few weeks (if not more) before starting at Company A. And they’re not going to tell Company B that they already have a contract at Company A because that would jeopardize their chances of getting an offer.

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    5. Tis I*

      I found the original letter and that had “twice” instead of several times. I’m not sure why it got changed, but in my mind it makes the advice make more sense. Twice is enough to start looking but “several” is a sign that something is really wrong imo.

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      1. Pastor Petty Labelle*

        twice does make a difference. That could be then accepting this offer and then hearing back for a job they like more. Which I’m not sure how you can even stop that from happening. Would an explanation or even giving 2 weeks notice actually make that much difference? You are still out a new hire almost immediately.

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        1. Quill*

          Yeah, twice is firmly in coincidence territory when it comes to actually establishing a pattern. I do wonder, having read the original letter, if the competitors these people left for are offering more stable employment, since these are per-project contract positions.

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    9. Czhorat*

      I’m always a little bit skeptical of management letter writers whose question boils down to “this person/these people did something inconvenient or difficult for me. How do I convince them that they’re hurting themselves?”

      I know that the usual routine here is to believe LWs, but things like this make me wonder if there’s something that the writer isn’t seeing in their situation, or isn’t seeing accurately.

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      1. bamcheeks*

        The thing that immediately strikes me a bit this is that … they clearly got hired at the Flashier Agency project despite being contracted with Less Flashy Agency. Flashier Agency doesn’t seem to have a problem with poaching employees! So is this really a “industry wide” reputational damage or just “not eligible for re-hire” on the part of Less Flashy Agency?

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        1. Czhorat*

          It’s possible that Flashier doesn’t know that they’re poaching; applications could have been sent concurrently and the applicants probably wouldn’t put a job they’ve had for a week on their resume.

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    10. juliebulie*

      Yes. In most cases, a recent hire would give it more than a week or two. Even with the sexier job available, it’s out of the ordinary for people (even if it’s just two in a row) to leave so quickly.

      Reply ↓
      1. MigraineMonth*

        If the new hires knew the new opportunity was much better and they definitely wanted it, I think it is reasonable–and better for OP–that they quit within the first week.

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    12. Hastily Blessed Fritos*

      I was thinking the same thing! It’s a pretty standard part of the hiring process in the final stages to ask about whether someone is interviewing elsewhere, and this particular company may want to dig in a bit more – try to figure out where the company falls on the desirability scale for a particular applicant. Once or twice could just be stuff that happens, but a pattern significant enough to write in about is worth looking at the common factor, which is something about how they were hired or what they saw immediately after being hired.

      Reply ↓
    13. Luna*

      Something is definitely wrong at that company. The job won’t be put on their resume, and if the industry is so small likely no one is surprised people are quitting left and right. Look for the core problem.

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  2. Katie Porter's Whiteboard*

    Another question I would be asking is whether it’s “normal” for recent hires to quit throughout the industry or if this is unique to LW’s company. Without knowing more about the situation, it’s been my experience that repeated instances of people quitting quickly should cause an employer to also reflect on whether there’s an issue within the company that isn’t being addressed.

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    1. online millenial*

      This was my thinking as well–when talking to new hires who quit abruptly, it’s worth finding out if there’s a reason why. If there’s a manager who’s so awful they’re driving new hires off within the first week, that’s information you need to have. It’s possible your company is handling their end of things just fine! But I really felt this possibility of a problem on the company side was missing from both the letter and Alison’s answer.

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        2. ThisIsNotADuplicateComment*

          Interestingly if you go to the original letter (July 30 2019) this had only happened twice! There’s even a comment from Alison noting that since it’s only two people and they’re both new grads she doesn’t think there’s a strong indicator of culture issues at the LW’s company. Not sure why it was changed to ‘Several times’ in this reprint.

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        3. Cmdrshprd*

          Possibly but if it is a big company it very well could be that even 3 people quiting within a week of starting do not have the same manager. Plus even the numbers do not tell the whole store, 3 new hires quiting in a company of 10/15 is very different than 3 new hires quiting in a company of 2,000 or 20,000 employees.

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    3. cat lover*

      it feels very unlikely to me that these new grads are up and quitting very suddenly without there being an underlying issue, for sure. is there anything going on that could be qualified as a bait and switch, would be my question

      Reply ↓
    4. Bob the Sourdough Starter*

      I find it hilarious that somehow this LW has never once stopped to consider that maybe their company is a wild cesspit of toxicity and dysfunction, and looked at which managers drove them all off. New graduates are the most easily bullied, so for that many to leave so abruptly, something is very wrong with the company.

      Reply ↓
        1. abca*

          Yeah, wow, the jumping to conclusions in the comment section is wild for this letter. Even if you refuse to read other comments, in the current print with “several”, how do you translate that internally to “that many” and then jump to “cesspit of toxicity”. It is especially interesting since usually people who lack reading comprehension skills and who immediately jump to the worst possible conclusions are the causes for “cesspits of toxicity”.

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        3. Hroethvitnir*

          “Several” implies 3+. Once is annoying, twice is coincidence, three times is concerning, and the most common reason for that is the workplace having issues. A single week is very, very early to bail.

          I don’t know if it was a decision by Inc to change it from “two” to “several”, but they are very different situations imo.

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    5. nnn*

      That’s what I was wondering. Can LW find out if other companies in their industry are also experiencing this?

      If multiple companies are experiencing this, the people to talk to might be the educational institutions these new graduates are graduating from – see if they can help calibrate expectations.

      If it’s just LW’s company, it’s time to look inwards

      Reply ↓
  3. KellifromCanada*

    I’d also be looking at the pay and benefits you’re offering. If new hires are regularly leaving after a week, is your pay and benefits package as competitive as you need it to be?

    Reply ↓
    1. Nesprin*

      I’d suggest looking more closely at onboarding, training and early work assignments- if someone accepted a job, they were at least theoretically OK with the pay and benefits, but something in the first week isn’t working right.

      Is there no parking or no safe way to commute to the job site? do you require people to clock in at 4:55am? Is there no training other than giving someone an office and a computer login? Is the workload reasonable for a new hire? Is Fergus who handles all incoming hires horrible to them? Is there a learning curve too steep for new hires? Is there a lack of breaks or an uncomfortable work place or a lack of clarity for job assignments?

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      1. Having a Scrummy Week*

        All of the above plus: are the job descriptions accurate? Could there be any bait-and-switching going on with these roles?

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      2. Guacamole Bob*

        It would have to be something big, too. I can’t imagine bailing in the first week just because of lack of training or workload concerns – that’s something that might cause people to quit at various points within the first few months, I’d think, since you often can’t tell in the first week and might stick it out to see whether things will get better after a few weeks. Job logistics, outright mistreatment, major bait-and-switch, benefits being not as promised, and other big stuff strike me as more likely to cause these first-week resignations.

        OP may be accurate about their particular industry, but in many situations I’d be making sure to find out more about what was leading to these early resignations.

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      3. Banana Pyjamas*

        I agree. I worked in an office where all new hires had to do initial training in a specific division regardless of what they were hired for, and this led to a lot of people quitting. Even when I was hired in with 5 years experience and skills in the software that were missing in the office but critical to the work, I had to start in that division.

        Reply ↓
    3. Clorinda*

      If all their new hires are new grads on their first job, they are offering starter pay. If the pay were decent, they’d have some mid-career folks in the mix.

      If you’re offering starter pay and it’s on the low end of even starter pay scale, I wouldn’t be surprised at people leaving as soon as something better comes up.

      Reply ↓
  4. Pastor Petty Labelle*

    It’s only a guess that they are moving to flashier projects.

    If this happened once or twice possibly. But several times make me wonder about the working conditions. Sure the whole industry moves around a lot, but some places are better to work than others. What is the first week like for a new hire? Do they get training and a chance to acclimated or is it dive with both feet and hope they can swim, while imposing insane deadlines on them?

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    1. Paint N Drip*

      It is a guess, but younger employees leaving for flashy projects to flesh out their portfolio/resume doesn’t seem too weird. I wonder if OP works at a more ‘meat and potatoes’ firm but there are other firms that more often get the big cool flashy projects, so the exodus is not an indictment of OP’s firm as much as it is a reflection on the goals of these recent younger employees.

      Reply ↓
      1. CB212*

        Yeah, the original post had a lot of commenters in TV production saying yeah, in their world, if LW works on something like antiques roadshow they could easily lose new hires to Stranger Things, or whatever – like LW could know they aren’t the hottest gig out there.

        Reply ↓
        1. HailRobonia*

          Now I am picturing a Stranger Things/Antiques Roadshow crossover. “This is a very interesting ominous ticking grandfather clock you’ve brought in for our appraisers…”

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        2. Yadah*

          Yea, as someone who works in the film industry I’d put money that LW is working in entertainment based on their description.
          If that’s accurate it’s pretty common for people to jump ship on good jobs to work on something flashier because it’s cool and it’s overall better for the resume.
          But LW is correct that it’s a risky move for newbies, especially because it’s an industry with a strong “pay your dues” mentality.
          Most won’t begrudge someone doing it once, even twice if they’re good and it truly is a much better opportunity they’re leaving for – but you really don’t want a reputation for it.

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      2. Quill*

        I also wonder if “flashier” is code for “has updated their pay scale during the lifetime of a 22-25 year old.”

        Reply ↓
        1. curly sue*

          Except for the note about having benefits, everything in the letter sounds exactly like working in animation. I’d bet dollars to doughnuts this is a studio, and new grads are taking contracts for rigging or animation on ‘Cute Animals Learning Life Lessons’ because it’s a gig and work is work, and then bailing once the other studio in town staffs up for ‘Teen Superheroes Making Fart Jokes’ or ‘Robot Wars in Spaaaaaace.’ It’s just how the industry goes.

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      3. Antilles*

        Not with this frequency though. I’m with Pastor on this one that once or twice would be whatever, but not “several times recently”.

        Employees disappearing in week 1 for another company is quite rare; if you’re having it happening several times in a short period, that’s absolutely a sign of something.

        Reply ↓
        1. MigraineMonth*

          Doesn’t that depend on the size of the new hire pool? If you’re losing 50% of your recent hires, that’s a red flag. If you’re losing 2%, eh, stuff happens.

          Reply ↓
      4. a clockwork lemon*

        If that’s the case, I’m not sure why this would be some sort of dealbreaker for these recent grads in the industry as a whole. Unless OP is going around to her whole network circulating a list of the people she hired who bounced, nobody is putting a three day stint at a random company on their resume. (Full disclosure, several years ago I left a company after six months because the work culture sucked and I got a “flashier,” career-making offer that more than doubled my comp).

        If it’s a pattern AND these new grads are leaving to take other jobs, which OP suspects but does not actually know are for better projects, my suspicion is that there’s something wrong with the hiring or onboarding process. OP doesn’t say anywhere that she’s been contacted by people in her broader network asking about these people, and there’s nothing in the letter to indicate that they are skipping out on the jobs they took with other companies.

        Reply ↓
      5. But what to call me?*

        It’s certainly possible that OP is right about that. It just seems suspicious that OP didn’t even address the possibility that there might be something happening at their company driving them off. If they had, I think commenters would have more confidence in their claim that it’s all due to the flashy project problem.

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    2. Myrin*

      If this happened once or twice possibly.

      It did happen only twice and the letter actually consisted of two parts originally – with Alison writing back and asking the OP her thoughts on why that happened – but Alison molded them into one and (not sure why) changed the “twice” to “several times”.

      Reply ↓
  5. FricketyFrack*

    Gotta love the total lack of self-awareness in this one. “People keep quitting after a few day of working here. Is it something we’re doing? No, couldn’t be.”

    If I had multiple new hires leave that fast, I’d be taking a serious look at how things are going at my company before assuming they’re all just flaky or magically getting cooler projects elsewhere. Maybe it really is just bad luck with hiring, but that seems like you’d have maybe one or two, not several.

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    2. Jax*

      The quitters have contracts. Theirs is not normal behavior — this is not hourly or salaried work. they sign on to explicit terms for a set period. Alison is correct in suggesting the OP revisit the contract stipulations (penalties, means of withdrawal, etc) rather than assuming the OP is somehow the one out of norms here.

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  6. Palmer*

    I don’t know if its just me, but LW focuses a lot on how the grads quitting “hurts the company and them” but doesn’t really elaborate into any factors as to why. It seems to lack a perspective and empathy.

    That all strikes me as unreliable narrator possibly making excuses for toxic work practices or environments and blaming the new grads for not accepting it.

    I think LW could do some introspection and investigation as to why folks are quitting with no notice. Smoothing the introductory process that their workplace is how it is. But it is also a reasonable step for LW to try and change toxic factors that might be costing them time, money and new talent.

    I don’t feel we have the whole story.

    Reply ↓
    1. i like hound dogs*

      Absolutely. The “it hurts them” part of the “it hurts the company and them” seems very disingenuous.

      I agree that this may be an unreliable narrator.

      Reply ↓
    2. MsM*

      Yeah, if I were a grad in this field, I feel like I’d be getting mixed messages. “Don’t expect you’re going to stay at any one place too long, but if you decide to leave on your own terms, good luck getting future work”?

      Reply ↓
      1. Orv*

        “We have a 90 day probation period in case we decide we don’t like you after all, but if you quit because you don’t like it here you’re unprofessional.”

        Reply ↓
        2. MigraineMonth*

          I think there’s a significant difference between quitting a regular job (where there’s no end-date) and quitting a limited-term contract. Doing the latter frequently can affect your reputation, particularly if the contract is building towards some deliverable at the end (e.g. organizing a conference or building a working piece of software).

          Unlike the LW, I think that quitting within the first week isn’t a big deal; it would be a pattern of quitting on month 5 of a 6-month contract that would concern me.

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    3. human*

      right?? I mean it only hurts them if OP and his colleagues badmouth them to the rest of the industry, are they really gonna do that without looking closer at the reasons this is happening? if so the new grads may not be the ones who end up with a bad reputation…

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    4. BlueCanoe*

      OP needs to take a good hard look at their own company and management style (or the management styles of whoever the new hires come in contact with).

      A lot of the phrasing and word choice in this letter would give me pause about working here. I agree with the lack of empathy and awareness. OP could try to look at the company from a new hire’s perspective, and look way beyond the “other companies are working on flashier projects” angle.

      Beyond that, I don’t think telling new grads that “quitting after a week is unacceptable” during the interview process (or any time, really) is the answer here. If the company can figure out why new grads are leaving, and if the reason really, truly isn’t a toxic work culture, poor management, or some other fixable reason, address it in the interview process. Does your company’s work receive less public attention than work at other companies? Are your projects larger and take longer to complete? Are they just more boring somehow? Address that in the interview process, along with any positives. Maybe your projects take longer but some people like that because they feel like they can do a more thorough job and learn more in-depth things about it. Maybe the project itself is boring but it accomplishes a really important purpose.

      Tell prospective employees about these things do they know what they’re getting into. This allows them to opt out before they get hired if they don’t think it will be a good fit. But all this should come after a concerted effort to find out if there are any other problems driving these new grads away.

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      1. carrot cake*

        “A lot of the phrasing and word choice in this letter would give me pause about working here.”

        —

        Specific examples?

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    5. Turquoisecow*

      Yeah I can’t imagine how cutthroat the industry must be that a brand new grad’s reputation takes a hUGE hit from quitting their first job quickly.

      Reply ↓
  7. JFC*

    This one irks me because it feels like the OP is doing too much blaming of the (ex) employees instead of looking at the company to see if something needs to improve during the hiring process. Look at how the job descriptions are written. Do they accurately reflect the work that the employees will be doing? Review your interview process. Are you adding in questions to screen for people who may jump ship quickly? It may be worth adding those, expanding the interview process or involving more people. What does your training and onboarding look like? Is something happening there that deters people immediately?

    It just feels like if it’s happening this frequently, there’s a bad mismatch between expectations and reality. It’s up to you as the employer to create cohesion there. You’ll probably always have people who bail after a short time, especially if something more attractive or lucrative comes up, but taking stock of how things are running internally may mitigate a lot of this.

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  8. Ginger Cat Lady*

    Don’t guess at why and assume it’s for more flashy projects. Ask them why they’re leaving. Ask those who trained them what they may have said.
    Chances are, it’s you, not them, since your company is the common denominator. It’s likely a problem with your company you’re unaware of or unwilling to fix. Could be all kinds of things, including:
    Awful pay
    The guy who does onboarding is a creep (My SIL once quit a job on day 2 because of this)
    Benefits turn out to be far worse than promised (BTDT, quit after a week because their “health insurance” was actually a religious health share plan)
    Hours turn out to be way more than expected
    The technology you use at your company is old and clunky and they don’t want to deal with it.

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  9. TerrorCotta*

    The fact new graduates/hires are able to break a contract with no notice and no financial penalty actually made me wonder if the they aren’t even getting paid out of the gate. So many just walking off (plus the description of the “industry standards”) really makes me suspect there’s something shady going on. Bait and switch “training” program, maybe? Told you’ll be earning x amount, but then quickly discovering that it’s conditional or delayed?

    Definitely think it was a company problem, though. Really curious as to what industry was so bed-hoppy!

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    1. JFC*

      The part about told you’ll be earning a certain amount and then finding out that’s not the case sounds a lot like sales. It’s not uncommon for sales positions to have insane pay ranges because it varies so much based on how much you sell and how much commission you bring in. A lot of places don’t pay that commission unless you’re hitting certain goals or quotas. I’ve seen a lot of new hires leave once they figure that part out, but it’s usually after a few months, not a few days.

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      1. Quill*

        I do wonder if it’s direct marketing and new hires aren’t aware that pay is commission / aware what a realistic amount of money to make starting out on commmission and are escaping when they realize they aren’t making a living wage starting out.

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      2. JFC*

        We sort of had that happen a couple of years ago. I’m still not 100% sure what happened, but the new hire (who had a lot of professional experience and was definitely not a recent grad) thought she’d be doing operational and creative work. The job was strictly a sales position. She didn’t last two weeks.

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    3. Yadah*

      I’d wager it’s the film and television industry, most production jobs in that field are on a project-by-project basis, the contracts are typically for fairly short periods of time, and having a reputation for leaving to go to another job after a week could risk your professional future since it’s such a reputation based industry.

      Reply ↓
      1. RagingADHD*

        They aren’t giving new grads benefits in film & tv production unless they are union. And if they were union, they would already have a vested interest in seeing their contract through.

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        1. Yadah*

          Lots of union folks have 0 interest in seeing their contract through and will jump ship for a more interesting gig in a heartbeat.
          If anything, being union allows them to be more empowered to jump ship because they have greater employment protections and reps to advocate for them.

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  10. Merry*

    I could be off base on this because it could just sound preachy if you don’t put thought into how you lay it out. But it seems to me like a situation they should be trying to preempt. Here is the contract, we expect you to commit to staying this long, we know you’re new to the world of teapot making so we want you to know these 5 things about how to maintain good relationships in our sector.

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    1. HonorBox*

      Great point. It could be that adding something like this to the interview process would be really helpful. Especially if these new grads don’t have a ton of direct work in the industry before they start, it’s like Cliff’s Notes for work that could serve them well both at this workplace and elsewhere later.

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  11. Heidi*

    Is the OP hoping that by saying something, the new hire will un-quit and go back to the original job? I actually get the sense that they’ve already burnt the bridge and now the OP just wants them to…I dunno? Expect to be shunned? Not bother applying for another job in this industry ever?

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    1. MassMatt*

      I get the impression the employees are not quitting in person, they’re simply not showing up after a few/several days, maybe sending an email.

      When was the original letter published? If it was more than a few years ago I would definitely say they need to look at hiring/training and/or salary. But from what I hear lately (anecdotes, I know) new grads not showing up or ghosting very early on in new jobs is becoming less unusual.

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      1. Banana Pyjamas*

        At the office I worked at that had this problem most new grads left at lunch or break never to be seen again. We did have 1 or 2 who simply never showed. It was also definitely an us problem.

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    2. pally*

      And if they are, do they ask key questions about why the employee is quitting? Do they listen to the responses or just discount them (“heh, they are young and don’t know what they are talking about”)?

      Reply ↓
  13. Rick Tq*

    If this has happened more than a few times recently it is past time for OP and all of management to look at their hiring practices AND the company as a whole. Something is badly out of whack.

    Reply ↓
  14. Pentapus*

    Ooh. Old letter, but I just started a job for a relatively large company. It doesn’t hire by contract, rather large hiring sprees then mass layoffs a few years later. I was contacted by hr after 6 weeks here- they were curious because they were noticing a large number of people were leaving within 2 weeks. It could be that the young graduates don’t understand your industry norms, it could be you work in a dysfunctional place, and don’t notice. Hard to say.

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  15. HonorBox*

    While it may be helpful to talk to these new employees about the damage they’re doing, I think I’d be asking them one specific question too. Because this letter seems to be lacking in self-reflection, and while you might have someone juggling competing offers or bail to work on a “flashier” project leave quickly every now and again, when it is multiple people, there’s probably more to the story and it probably is more about your workplace than it is about the employees.

    The question I’d be asking:
    *Is there something you’ve learned in this first week that has changed your perspective about working here?
    Then shut up and really listen. There could be any number of things that are brought up, but I’m guessing you’re going to hear a consistent theme throughout most of the comments. And really hearing these individuals out, and not trying to “answer” them or get defensive, you can decide internally how to address these things. Maybe it is true that they’re just excited about a sexier project and misguided on the fact that they’re signed a contract. Or maybe you’re putting them in a much different position than was promoted during the hiring process.

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  16. Be The Change*

    I am surprised to see that Green seems to have missed the mark on this response.

    Please tell me why we continue to enforce an imaginary 2 week notice period upon employees, but hold employers to no such standard? Why is it acceptable for employers to fire/let go employees at the drop of the hat, with no notice with often no reason at all? Employees that have bills to pay, children to care for, and in their loyalty, have not been seeking employment elsewhere.

    Why is it ok for job seekers to put hours of effort into applications and interviews, to ultimately be ghosted, misled, strung alomg, or low balled by prospective employers? But yet, are judged if they move on in a way that someone deems unprofessional?

    It is this lomg running imbalance of power that needs to change in the employment world.

    Anyone that tries to make an employee feel bad for leaving an environment that was not right for them is in childish and they need to take a hard look at themselves and the toxic environment they’ve contributed to.

    Reply ↓
    1. NaoNao*

      With respect, (and I hope this doesn’t come off as “bootlicking”) but the majority of employers *do* warn employees if it’s not a case of serious misconduct. They give feedback, written warnings with escalating seriousness and consequences, and there are often pretty clear warning signs that it’s not working out.

      A small business that needs to let someone go due to financial issues will also likely have signs (slow sales, less perks and benefits, etc.)

      Of course there are plenty of egregious stories about companies letting people go illegally or unethically but that’s really not the standard, it’s just that those stories are juicy and interesting vs. “My boss pulled me aside after months of serious talks and we had a sit down and a mutual agreement for me to move on in 30 days”.

      Companies in the USA that are over a certain amount of employees are legally required to warn employees of a layoff (the WARN act) and every large corporation I’ve worked for has gone out of their way to soften the blow: 30-60 days of notice, trying to find other roles, severance, COBRA services, and so on.

      The interview and hiring process is very broken, I agree there. But there will always be an imbalance and making it socially okay for people to up and quit with no notice isn’t the way to make it right, IMHO.

      Reply ↓
    2. carrot cake*

      So overblown. According to the original letter, two newly-graduated employees bailed. Frustrating, yeah, but what about all the newly-graduated employees who stay?

      And absolutely no proof from the letter that the LW is trying to make anyone feel badly about leaving, and, indeed, is asking whether they should say something to the new employees about how up and quitting could put a ding on their reputations within the industry.

      Soapboxing is so unnecessary and unhelpful here.

      Reply ↓
    3. Strive to Excel*

      There’s also the reality that in certain industries, hiring commitments are taken much more seriously. For instance – it’s generally accepted in accounting that you are going to have a busy season. Everyone is warned. Even mediocre companies warn all their staff about busy season and busy season expectations. It’s not even an industry secret – it’s an open fact.

      Quitting before busy season happens, though is less common. Quitting right after busy season is very common and generally considered to be a good time to quit. Quitting mid-busy season without a good reason, such as a family emergency or a serious HR complaint, is a good way to set yourself back in your career by a year or two.

      Reply ↓
    4. Hiding from My Boss*

      There’s the riff on the Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules. In this case, employers.
      That having been said, I’ve seen & experienced enough arbitrary meanness and unfairness from employers/managers in my working life that my loyalty is ultimately to myself.

      I’ll also add–we’ve seen enough postings here about how hiring managers can get the nitty-gritty on applicants, even getting information from former bosses & colleagues who under their HR policies are forbidden to dish on former or current employees. However, applicants are warned to keep their remarks about former employers positive and never bad-mouth their former manager, even if said manager treated them like dirt and ran them out of the company.

      Reply ↓
    5. Kella*

      I understand the points you’re making but they belong on a different letter. The specific scenario OP is discussing is regarding *contracted* work. Both employer and employee are signing a contract, agreeing to work a certain amount, a certain length of time etc. So this is a circumstance where the employer *is* held to the same standard as the employee, and the problem is the employee is ignoring that comittment.

      Reply ↓
  17. Trout 'Waver*

    It’s really disingenuous to claim these fresh grads don’t understand they’re damaging their own reputations.

    If anything, my experience is that fresh grads are more concerned about that than they ought to be, and stick in bad situations too long.

    Reply ↓
  18. Tis I*

    In the original letter (July 30th 2019, what to do about new hires who quit after their first week) it says it’s happened “twice” not “several times”. Just as an fyi for anyone who wants to take a look.

    Reply ↓
  19. CareerChanger*

    Any thoughts what this industry is? Film/TV production?

    Agree with what everyone is saying about finding out why. Also, I’m not convinced it hurts the quitters as much as LW thinks. In most cases a “reputation” means you’ve done something multiple times, and there’s no reason to necessarily think the new hires are quitting after a week over and over. But I’m curious about the industry because there might be some context I’m not aware of.

    Reply ↓
    1. Quill*

      Also if they only worked there a week… will they ever list it on their resume? Will anyone in the industry care in 1 year except maybe the company they’re quitting from (which they apparently do NOT want to work with?)

      Reply ↓
      1. Having a Scrummy Week*

        They wouldn’t, unless this company suffering new-employee-attrition happens to be vindictive and tells other companies not to hire them.

        Reply ↓
      2. doreen*

        I’m sure they won’t put it on their resume – but I think the LW is talking about something a little different. Apparently the whole industry is contract based and people move back and forth – and if Angela quits after working a week at LWs company, she might do just fine, until she applies to Other Company, where Bob (who worked at LWs company when Angela quit) now works.

        Reply ↓
      3. Yadah*

        If it is the Film/TV industry then the employee would likely be in a position to be hired by LW on different projects for different companies in the future.
        So it would absolutely be a risk and people would care in that industry.

        Reply ↓
        1. PDB*

          I was in TV for years and the letter has that flavor, especially if it’s a PA type job.
          PA=production assistant=gofer.

          Reply ↓
    2. Banana Pyjamas*

      Understaffed, underpaid local government that has delusions of hiring new grads from Little Ivies. Okay, in this case probably not, but I definitely worked at that place.

      Reply ↓
  20. Schwa Alaska*

    If short-term contracts and movement between companies is a norm in this industry, it strikes me as odd that new entrants into the field wouldn’t be aware of this based on previews they’ve had of the industry (such as through internships, through contacts who expose them to the industry in the first place, etc.). Prospective or new teachers would be aware that quitting in the middle of the school year would likely reflect poorly on the employee, new-to-the-biz wedding planners presumably understand that quitting the night before a wedding doesn’t look great, and so forth. (And also, people in those industries would probably look at folks who left under those circumstances and say, “Huh, that’s an unusual way to go – I wonder if there were extenuating circumstances?”)

    If the types of job departures that are damaging future career prospects aren’t extremely obvious, then someone has to make them more obvious to prospective or new workers in this field. And if it is extremely obvious, then the question needs to be what about the OP’s workplace is driving new employees to make this decision despite knowing the potential consequences?

    Reply ↓
    1. Film school dropout*

      Like others, I’m guessing this is film/TV production and LW has accurately assessed her project as non-flashy. If so, New Grad is probably aware that quitting mid contract is a problem but could be gambling that the career boost of working on Cool Project outweighs the risk. That could apply to your examples too in some cases – maybe burning a bridge is worth it if I get to work on, say, Usher’s wedding. Not great long term thinking, necessarily, but these are people in their early twenties after all.

      Reply ↓
  21. Timothy*

    Was there any attempt at an exit interview to find out what was going on?

    I know these kinds of meetings can be a minefield, but there might be some information that would explain this behaviour.

    Reply ↓
  23. Juicebox Hero*

    Oof. This one is right up there with “what’s wrong with our new employees who don’t want to work 100 hour weeks for years on end? We pay them lots!” for cluelessness. New grads, as a rule, don’t have a lot of money and entry level jobs are thin on the ground. They wouldn’t be hopping it if there wasn’t something about the company that was driving them away. If LW’s attitude is typical of management, that level of condescension and scorn would drive me away, too.

    Reply ↓
    1. HonorBox*

      100% your last sentence. I read this as coming from someone who is seasoned and KNOWS how this all works. And someone who has perhaps escaped some of the crap that these new employees are dealing with.

      Reply ↓
    2. Anne Shirley Blythe*

      This! It may very well be unintentional and due to cluelessness, but I sensed condescension as well. Made me think of the LW who couldn’t understand an employee’s frustration due to paycheck problems. The paycheck was consistently inaccurate or bouncing–can’t recall.

      Reply ↓
        1. Quill*

          That one was so over the top in how the LW phrased things that I was astonished at the lack of self awareness.

          For future reference, LW, if you refer to someone as having “very big britches” you cannot sound like anyone other than a cartoon villain

          Reply ↓
        3. Orv*

          That one is amazing.

          I once had a job bounce my paycheck, due to an accounting screwup. They apologized and covered my overdraft fee; if they hadn’t I would have been immediately shopping my resume around

          Reply ↓
  24. Anne Shirley Blythe*

    I REALLY wish I knew whether the company pays a market rate. I suspect this is a factor along with the other ones mentioned. It may very well be that the wages are ridiculously low. The situation sounds very similar to one created by educational publishers in my area. People jump ship from the low-paying ones when the well-paying one has an opening. It’s almost amusing, seeing similar paths among the employees/contractors on LinkedIn.

    Reply ↓
  25. Just a thought*

    I think there is close to zero chance that any of these new hires left for a better offer/flashier project. In my experience if I think there’s a possibility of receiving an offer from two different companies nearly simultaneously I would be doing my best to delay a response on the first offer as much as possible so I could hopefully review both offers side by side. That’s not always possible, but seeing this play out multiple times says more about LW’s company and/or the positions they’re hiring for than the candidates. Plus, I would think there would be plenty of evidence that came up prior to a candidate accepting that they had a 2nd offer. Like asking for more time to decide, and more back and forth on the negotiating.

    Reply ↓
    1. carrot cake*

      “That’s not always possible, but seeing this play out multiple times says more about LW’s company and/or the positions they’re hiring for than the candidates.”

      —–

      How is twice, as stated in the original letter, “multiple”?

      Reply ↓
      1. Just a thought*

        Sorry, was working off this post rather than the original letter. I missed that it was confirmed as 2 instances. With that said, twice is multiple, no?

        multiple = more than 1
        twice = more than 1
        twice = multiple

        Or was your concern that I was knowingly inflating the volume of quitters?

        Reply ↓
  26. Sunny Daze*

    HB in a sub-comment somewhere earlier in this thread, summed it up well. (Please, HB, repost as stand alone comment). First, in the original letter, it happened only twice. I live in an area where there are a number of defense contractors and can absolutely see this happening. Company A gets a defense contract, hires people on a contract for the length of that project. Company B has a “flashier” project and the new grad has applied both places, accepted at A but then got an offer from B and leaves. They start to look for something else when the project wraps up at B, but A won’t hire them because they flaked already. Maybe C or D will, but maybe there is someone at C or D who used to work at A who says, “nope.”

    Reply ↓
  27. bamcheeks*

    LW, assuming that you’re correct that people are leaving for “flashier” projects, is there anything you can do to make your offer more attractive? What if it’s a less flashy project but that means you get more high-profile role or more autonomy early on, or there’s more investment in training, or the working pattern is more reasonable, and you re-design your recruitment process to make sure you’re selecting people who value those things over the flashier project?

    Wherever possible, it is better to retain workers with carrots rather than sticks. You shouldn’t be threatening candidates with “a bad reputation” to keep them from leaving for the flashier project: that’s a recipe for a workforce which happy and whcih would leave if they could and that’s surely not what you want! Put the effort into figuring out how to hire the people who are happy and excited to work on your project, and if your project isn’t as intrinsically desirable as Flashy McFlash’s, figure out how to improve the value proposition for your candidates!

    Reply ↓
  28. Coverage Associate*

    Of course, I don’t know every industry, but in most, to have a new job to go to within 1 to 3 weeks of starting a job suggests that the employee had applied and interviewed for the next job before starting the first and was waiting on the next to make the offer.

    OP could give candidates a longer time to consider offers so that they can get the next offer before starting with OP. I also wonder about shifting industry norms about when new grads start, that OP’s place hasn’t implemented. Like, if they require new grads to start after Labor Day, but competitors have switched to October starts, OP may have to switch to October too.

    Also, almost every industry has to have something to balance “flashy” competitors: higher pay, better training, more flexibility, better benefits, something. In my industry, government lawyers generally get paid less but have 6 weeks vacation and no billable hours, and often excellent healthcare.

    Reply ↓
  29. CLC*

    Does the OP know for sure if these new graduates are leaving for jobs within the same industry? If they are just out of school they could easily be going to an entirely different industry or function (maybe one that’s not contract based).

    Reply ↓
  30. Three Owls in a Trench Coat*

    Assuming the OP has accurately reported the new hires’ motives and their industry’s norms about contract work, I might explain that failure to honor their side of the contract may make them ineligible/lower priority for future projects and contracts—both when they first sign on and again at the exit interview. If commitment to completion is valued, make it clear that the commitment will be rewarded with intangible benefits beyond the contractual payments.

    Reply ↓
    2. GreenDoor*

      Also assuming that the OP is accurately reporting what’s going on, maybe OPs company is making it too easy to jump ship. Do your contracts have any liquidated damages clause? Are there any consequences to terminating the contract early? If not, maybe build some in.

      But really though, read all the advice upthread. OP should really analyze the *why*. I think they’re assuming the projects are flashier elsewhere but maybe that’s not it.

      Reply ↓
  31. Kella*

    Since the comments have established that there were only TWO instances of new employees skipping out on their contracts, per the original letter, I feel like a lot of the comments here are focusing on the wrong things. Some things I haven’t seen touched on:

    Has OP asked around to the hiring managers of other companies to see if they encounter a similar problem at a similar rate? If so, this will help contexualize whether this is a new grads issue or an issue with OP’s specific company.

    My guess is the issue is that new grads have heard that it’s normal for people to bounce around constantly between companies in this industry, but they don’t know the conditions under which it’s acceptable to do that. Since I’m not familiar with the industry at all, I was personally confused reading OP’s frustration at employees leaving with no notice, and then describing the mobility of their industry.

    Is the mobility only because of the contracted nature of the work? Are there certain circumstances where it’s considered acceptable to break a contract, or is that only done in significant emergencies? Is there such a thing as “leaving with notice” if doing so would break your contract anyway? These are questions the new grads may not have answers to and as Alison said, it might help to answer them pre-emptively as part of the onboarding process.

    Reply ↓
  32. Sharon*

    Is it possible that they are quitting your short-term contract job because they got an offer for a permanent position? That’s a foreseeable consequence of only offering short-term contracts.

    Reply ↓
    1. mel*

      I find this unlikely, as when Alison sought more details in the original post, it turns out the entire industry runs on short-term (or at least, finite-term) contract work.

      Reply ↓
      1. Sharon*

        But if they are new college grads, they may not have decided on this industry in particular – they may be simply trying to a find a job and took the contract work because they weren’t getting any other options.

        Reply ↓
        1. mel*

          There’s nothing to indicate that, but for arguement’s sake, if the new grads aren’t going to stay in the industry, then the LW doesn’t have to concern themselves with the situation at all. You’re the one that brought up the “foreseeable consequence of only offering short-term contracts,” but the entire industry is like that, not just LW’s company. You could argue that work should not depend so heavily on contract work, but sometimes that’s the nature of the work itself, not something that can be negotiated (see others’ speculation that LW is in film, TV, entertainment).

          If the industry itself is struggling to continue operating like this, there’s not a thing that LW can do about it. If the new grads decided that this industry is not for them, good for them, this is the best time to make such decisions, but LW doesn’t need to worry over it either. If new grads aren’t involved in the industry, they’re no longer part of LW’s professional interests.

          Reply ↓
    2. Hiding from My Boss*

      i left an open-ended temp job (although it was trending to calling us contractors, there was no contract) and the agency rep said condescendingly, “Do they KNOW you have a COMMITMENT?” as if i couldn’t leave until they said so. I pointed out i was going to a full-time job with benefits, and the lady sniffed like “well, if you’re leaving us in the lurch for tha-a-a-at…” clueless clueless clueless

      Reply ↓
  33. EDIA*

    To anyone surprised that the answer didn’t address the possibility that LW’s company is an odorous hellhole, here’s a comment Alison made on the original post:

    I mean, it’s two people, both new grads. It’s always good to reflect on your culture but I don’t think two new grads leaving quickly because they were offered more exciting projects (assuming they really moved right to those projects) is a strong indicator that the culture is horrible.

    Reply ↓
  34. pengy*

    Often times these old letters are interesting to see how perspectives change. In this case, the older letter is from 2019 – and it seems like commenters now are more likely to believe it’s the company rather than the ‘flashier’ job. Alison even commented a couple of times in the first sets of comments supporting the OP. Also, the change from twice to several is not a minor change in how the letter is perceived, I believe.

    It also seems like the original letter was referencing the entertainment industry, which is likely a niche industry.

    Shift in comments – much more immediate focus on the possibility it’s the company – is interesting 5 years after some major upheavals (to put it nicely) in professional norms.

    Reply ↓
  35. Bopper*

    My daughter’s office was like this…it wasn’t the people, it was a disconnect about how they described the role and the intensity of it and how you are thrown with some training but expected to do well. They pay entry level but the people who did well were either coming back into the job market or college grads who were getting into that industry.

    Reply ↓
  37. SB*

    We’ve lost a few people after a couple of weeks.
    When we dug deeper, it wasn’t us specifically – we were just the back-up plan in case they didn’t get into grad school.

    Once they got the acceptance and package they wanted, they ditched us. Which is fine….do what’s best for you. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they were put on a “do not rehire” list since they wasted our resources.

    Reply ↓
  38. Kt*

    The fact that this letter writer does not even seem to consider that the issue is with the company and not the several people who have left really tells me everything I need to know.

    Reply ↓
  39. Where there's smoke...*

    I’m currently on a team where almost 50 people have come/gone in the past 8 years, but leadership is just MYSTIFIED as to why that is. Gee, could it be our total lack of team/job orientation, choke-chain style micro-management of even senior partners, blame/shame-fear culture, silo-ing, favoritism, cliques, etc.??? No, it must be that we aren’t getting high-quality candidates . . . ! ::eye-roll::

    Reply ↓
  40. So I says to Mabel I says*

    Sometimes people leave jobs quickly because they can quickly tell its a nightmare/not what they expected/different to what was advertised/etc and if they leave very quickly, they don’t have to put it on their resume.

    I’m not saying that here but I’m just throwing it out there to consider. It might not be their judgement that’s totally wrong; perhaps there are reasons so many people quickly leave and actually they’re making a smart calculation to do it sooner rather than later.

    Reply ↓
  41. Cosmo*

    Since the letter writer talks about this as contract work I’m kind of surprised there aren’t at least some penalties or a mandatory notice period or something in the contract to discourage the behavior they’re having problems with.

    I can’t quite put my finger on the industry but maybe some sort of event work? Contract for 6 months to work on a specific event or set of events, then bounce to another company for 9 months for a different event. Maybe cruise ship staff, but that wouldn’t be a small industry. Perhaps some sort of speciality tech upgrades where folks bounce around based on which company has a contract to upgrade the telco equipment in the Llama Grooming Warehouse.

    Reply ↓

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