POOR work-life balance, flexibility, and job dissatisfaction are leading to 4-5 per cent annualincreasein‘infantattrition’ -- employees quitting within six months of joining - - mainly in sectors like consumer durables, IT, and software, and BFSI, a senior executive of TeamLease Services said. “Infant attrition in India, mainly seen in the 22-32 years age group, is growing annually at 4-5 per cent and is mostly driven by factors like poor work-life balance and flexibility,whichisparticularlyimportanttoyoungerworkers,jobdissatisfaction, inadequate onboarding, insufficient compensation, making employees seek better opportunities,” TeamLease Services Chief Strategy Officer Subburathinam P told PTI. Lack of career development opportunities, culture of the organisation, work environment,managerial impact, and changes happeningin the family area lsopromptingne whires to leave in search of environments where they can grow and advance, he said. Infant attrition can also imply that there are more job opportunities, allowing people to switch, he said.

 

“In India, the concept of infant attrition gained significant attention in the early 2000s, particularly within the IT sector. The rapid growth of the IT industry led to high demand for skilled professionals, and companies faced challenges in retaining new hires,” Subburathinam said. This phenomenon, he said, canhaveasignificantfinancial impact on companies in the countryanditisestimatedthat infant attrition accounts for about 10-15 per cent of annual labour movement. “It can lead to substantial costs, including recruitment, training, and lost productivity,” Subburathinam added. Infant attrition refers to the phenomenon where employees leave an organisation with in a short period after joining, typically within the first sixmonths or during the probation period, some companiesalso consider three months asinfant attrition. Sub burathinam further said, with 49 per cent consumerdurables sector is witnessinghighest infant attrition, wherenew hires leave withinthe firstsix months. Other sectors, like IT andsoftware, Banking, Financial Services, andInsurance(BFSI)and telecom, retail and manufacturing are the other sectors that are witnessing thisphenomenon, he added. ThistrendisparticularlypronouncedinsouthIndia,wheretheinfantattritionrateisashighas 51 per cent, he noted.