[jjotto]

There’s a lot of experience on FR. Isn’t it pretty normal for engineering and other kinds of firms to hire new graduates far in excess of their needs and then keep a limited number of the best ones a year or two later?

[Fido969]

I know accounting firms would do that. It’s called “up or out”.

[whatexit]

Hiring young, ‘best and brightest’ lures them in. Then they become cannon fodder when eliminating long-term, older employees. “See, it can't be age discrimination - we laid off just as many young employees!”

[packagingguy]

The hire and fire strategy can work ok in industries where a high degree of knowledge of company procedures are not needed.

However in many industries it is a recipe for disaster.

Where I work we keep people for decades. Quite a number of my co-workers have been around for over twenty years. This year makes twenty-two for me.

But our contractor is another story. Every year I have to fly 1,000 miles train new technicians to do contract manufacturing. And there is a steep learning curve. Matter of fact it is so bad that the manufacturing supervisor, the department supervisor, the technicians, the manufacturing engineer have all changed within a space of less than ten years. Some positions have turned over two or three times.

So every year the trek to the manufacturing site, about a year goes by and we get several lots of product, then the people quit and we start all over again. Not easy to find employees who know what they are doing; it’s a chemical process and most people are very averse to chemistry.

[rellic]

Sounds like Boeing. I lasted over twenty years and left for an Observatory job that worked the same way. I retired at age 55. Not everybody is cut out for technical work.

[EQAndyBuzz]

” Isn’t it pretty normal for engineering and other kinds of firms to hire new graduates far in excess of their needs and then keep a limited number of the best ones a year or two later?”

It’s called a job description. You fulfil the expectations of the job description you continue to hold the job. You exceed them, you get promoted, you fail to meet the requirements, you are put on a performance plan and ultimately released. It is pretty straightforward.

Then you add in the unknown variables. How people behave, the type of leadership structure, your boss. Most people have trouble with the unknowns which causes the stress and ultimate departure.