Which industry has the most job quitters?
A new study from document management tool SmallPDF analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine which industries are seeing the most people quit their jobs.
The study scores every industry's quit rates - the percentage of total employees quitting in an industry every month - and quit levels, which measures how many employees quit in total each month.
The retail trade industry, which includes jobs like cashiers, customer service representatives and stock clerks took second place, seeing an average of 600,400 employees quitting every month between April and August 2022 and an average quit rate of 3.82%. Roughly 109,000 fewer employees quit this August compared to August 2021 in the industry.
The healthcare and social assistance industry took seventh place, seeing an average of 520,800 employees quitting every month between April and August 2022 and an average quit rate of 2.52% per month. Roughly 44,000 fewer employees quit this August compared to last August in the industry.
Education and health services ranked ninth, seeing an average of 581,800 employees quitting every month between April and August 2022 and an average quite rage off 2.4% per month. Roughly 47,000 fewer employees quit this august compared to August 2021 in the industry.
[Read more: Pharmacist shortages are affecting the pharmacy industry]
The retail trade industry trailed the accommodation and food services industry, including fast food workers, waiters and chefs, which took first place, seeing an average of 5.8% of its workforce leave between April and August 2022, when the study was carried out. More than 773,600 employees left every month on average during the study. August 2022 saw 128,000 more employees quit than the number who left their jobs in August 2021, indicating a massive change in staffing.
The arts, entertainment and recreation industry ranked third on the list, which includes fitness trainers, recreation attendants and musicians. This is due to a quit rate of 3.58% on average between April 2022 to August 2022, a high rate despite the low total employee numbers. Around 7,000 more employees quit the industry in August 2022 compared to August 2021.
Fourth place goes to the professional and business services industry, including lawyers, accountants, architects and more. It saw roughly 754,000 employees quit every month between April and August 2022. The quit rate was, on average, 3.36% during these months. August 2022’s quit number was 63,000 fewer employees than the quit level of August 2021.
[Read more: NCPA survey: Three-quarters of community pharmacies report staff shortages]
Rounding out the top five is the transportation, warehousing and utilities industry, which includes pilots, bus drivers and truck drivers, saw an average of 199,400 quits every month between April and August this year. The quit rate was 2.82% every month on average. August 2022’s quit level was 32,000 employees higher than August 2021’s level.
"The news has been filled with stories about unionizing within companies, striking and more due to wages and treatment issues from employees, and this data highlights which industries are losing the largest part of their workforce," said a SmallPDF spokesperson. "From an individual perspective, workers can ensure that if they do decide to quit, they do so in a professional manner, by using a template resignation letter.”