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Absence Rates Hit Two-Year Low, BNA Survey Finds Second-Quarter Turnover is Up Slightly from First Quarter Figures

NEWS RELEASE

Contacts:
Karen James Cody,
BNA - Press Contact

Washington, DC (September 12, 2006) – Monthly job absence rates, which measure worker days lost due to unscheduled absences, declined from 1.5 percent of scheduled worker days in the first quarter of 2006 to 1.2 percent in the current quarter, according to BNA's quarterly survey of 105 human resource and employee relations executives.

Turnover – median separation rates (excluding layoffs, reductions-in-force, and departures of temporary staff) – show a slight upward trend in the second quarter, rising from 1.0 percent of employers' workforces to 1.1 percent in the second quarter. Tracking these figures month to month, employee turnover in the second quarter declined from a median of 1.1 percent in March to 0.9 percent in April, then rose to a high of 1.2 percent in May, before closing at 1.1 percent in June. The six-month figure is equivalent to the separation rate of 1.1 percent observed during the first six months of 2005. This relative stability reflects a generally positive employment picture.

The BNA survey also finds that:

• Analysis by workforce size shows that smaller organizations have experienced the steepest declines in absence rates. Those with fewer than 250 employees saw absence rates fall seven-tenths of a point, from 1.8 percent through June 2005 to 1.1 percent through June 2006. In organizations with 250 to 499 employees and 500 to 999 employees those rates tumbled by a full point over the same two periods, from 1.8 to 0.8 percent and from 2.5 to 1.5 percent, respectively. By contrast, absence rates in organizations with 2,500 or more employees fell modestly, from 1.8 to 1.6 percent during the same period.
• A regional comparison of absence rates shows declines in all areas except the West.
• Analysis of turnover within the major employment sectors and subsectors shows that rates through June 2006 remained stable in nonmanufacturing (1.1 percent) and health care (1.0 percent), when compared with 2005 rates for the same period. In the remaining sectors, there have been only marginal changes in turnover from 2005 to 2006 reported for organizations in manufacturing (from 1.0 to 1.1 percent), nonbusiness (from 0.9 to 1.0 percent), and finance (from 1.1 to 1.2 percent).

BNA's survey of job absence and turnover has been conducted quarterly since 1974. Of the 105 responding organizations, 44 percent have fewer than 250 workers, 11 percent have workforces of 250 to 499 employees, 14 percent employe 500 to 999 workers, 11 percent have 1,000 to 2499 employees, and 17 percent employ at least 2,500 workers. Two percent did not supply information on workforce size. By industry,2 7 percent are manufacturing companies, 37 percent are nonmanufacturing firms, and 33 percent are nonbusiness establishments. Three percernt of respondents did not provide industry information. By region, 15 percent of the employers are located in the Northeast, 45 percent are in the South, 30 percent operate in the North Central states, and 10 percent are in the West. Total employment of the reporting organizations: 279,186.

Further details and breakdowns by industry, size, and region are contained in the full report. For press copies, or to interview BNA Surveys Director Joshua Joseph, contact Karen James Cody at (202) 452-4169 or kcody@bna.com .

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BNA is a leading publisher of news and analysis for professionals in business and government. Reporting from Washington, D.C. and the state capitals for more than 75 years, BNA is the oldest wholly employee-owned company in the United States.