I have a digital Rolodex file that I have been keeping since I got in the IT business. It has the contact information for every company or individual that I have done business with for the last 16 years.
Recently I had the opportunity to review the entire file of which there are over 200 entries. The majority of companies are long out of business. Companies like Comp USA and Leading Edge are gone.
I could not find a single person that was still with the same company. Some of these people have been added less than a year ago.
In the United States people change jobs at an alarming rate.Businesses show no loyalty towards employees by having massive layoffs if the company has a bad quarter. As a result, employees will work for a competitor if the price is right.Companies will terminate an older employee in favor of a younger one who will work for less money.
All the tacit knowledge possessed by these employees walks out the door on a regular basis.
It remains to be seen how adversely this brain drain will affect American companies as a large segment of the population reaches retirement age. Will corporate America implement Knowledge Management systems to try and keep some of this tacit knowledge before it is lost forever? How effective will this be?
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