• Emergent workers already account for one-third (31%) of all employees and are projected to represent the majority of the American workforce by 2007
• Due to a mismatch in workplace values and expectations, traditional companies are at risk of 40% more turnover among emergent workers, than their emergent company counterparts
• The cost of replacing lost emergent workers could range from $1 million a year for a company with 100 employees to $128 million a year for a company employing 10,000 people (average cost of turnover calculated at 150% of annual salary, or an average of $55,977 per employee, according to Saratoga Institute)
• While the survey estimates that nearly 40% of U.S. workers plan to stay with their current employer for five years or more, if only 25% of this group follows through on their desire to change employers, Corporate America is poised to experience more than $600 billion in turnover expenses within two years
• As the labor shortage intensifies, traditional companies may be left with only 8% of the labor pool from which to effectively recruit and retain talent by 2007
• Transitioning from traditional to emergent management practices increases a company’s likelihood of retaining emergent employees by 60%

In general, emergent workers want opportunities to work harder, so they can get ahead faster than the average employee. Emergent workers expect their value to be determined by contribution, not tenure or rank, and look for the following opportunities from employers:

• Promotions based on performance
• Aggressive education & mentoring programs
• Special assignments & skill diversification
• Ability to make meaningful contributions through innovative thinking
• Access to all levels of the organization
• Work/life balance options, such as flex-time & telecommuting

All statistical data referenced in this study was commissioned by Spherion Corporation and gathered by Harris Interactive, Inc.