Dr Helen Hughes contributes to BBC Worklife article
Dr Helen Hughes comments on the practice of employers hiring and continually turning over junior employees.
The BBC Worklife article, ‘The companies that churn through young workers’, suggests that some employers look to hire and continually turn over junior employees – sometimes harming young workers’ careers before they’ve even begun.
It is noted that often young employees are expected to ‘grind out’ the early years of their careers by showing ambition, persistence and resilience in the workplace – in some sense, ‘paying their dues’. However, Dr Helen Hughes notes that not every young worker without an explicit growth path is at a company that intentionally churns through entry-level talent.
She points to industries like public relations, where starting in lower-paid roles “fit into a person’s career trajectory: the expectation is that in the early stages, you have to take junior roles before you can progress”.
Dr Hughes notes the number of risks to young employees who are joining companies who have no intention of investing in their progression, including the fact that entry-level workers may be more malleable and willing to accept certain working conditions.
The less experienced the employee is, the more open-minded and generally accepting they are of a work environment. They’re unclouded by experience, which brings advantages to an employer – they’re easier to mould.
