So... I'm currently at a tier 2 consultancy. And there are currently people leaving at a rate of knots. There's always an attrition rate of course, but these are those I consider to be _good_ operators, thinkers and consultants. I'd say I get an average of 2-3 of this calibre of people sending me leaving emails every month - for at least 6 months; this doesn't include the people not in my sphere who are leaving. The company has of course come up witha new strategy to counter (having worked on it for a number of months) this but little of it is evident yet - hence people are still leaving - and from I have seen of the plans they will not make a lot of impactAt middle consultant level I am in the workhorse of the company level in my career. I wanted to know if there are others experiencing the same issues and therefore same dilema. Should I be looking else where for a job and career boost? and if so where? as surely many of the consultancies are experiencing the same problems and I could simply walk into a similar situation. My company like others is recruiting; so should I stay or take the opportunity to jump ship?Interested to see what others are thinking and experiencingOh and those who are leaving are doing lots of things 50-60% to other consultancies, some contracting, yet others inductry and settig up businesses, at least one travellingThanks

what market (country) are you working in?and how large is your company? 2-3 people per month is nothing in a firm like Accenture, quite a bit in a company like PA and a lot in a company of 100 employees

Hi, thanks for posting.I'm UK based in an international company, and the attrition rate is considered quite high. 2-3 is only my personal experience - there are more leavers, but they are outside of my pesonal network. I find out about them through typical channels with those in side my personal network commenting on their worth. At the moment the personal worth average is high.Thanks

The the market must be recovering.Most good people sit tight until they get a very good offer. Unless your firm is literally going bankrupt, then most good people will be slow to jump for just any old opportunity - the fastest way to spoil a good CV is to leave two jobs in a short period of time.

Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but you need to judge whether the attrition is a blip due to massive poaching by other consultancies, or an iceberg threatening the survival of the firm. At a small to midsize firm being the consultant who stays can have positive effects on your career assuming the practice survives. Of course only hindsight is 20/20...

Hi Cool, thanks for postingThe company is not going bankrupt. But likewise the people leaving have been here anywhere between 3-15 years and the peopel I have been able to speak to, are getting good jobs - where they are going to new jobs. Others are clearly annoyed or worried enough to go contracting etc. It's still not clear cut for me yet, I'm still trying to gather info.

Capgemini perhaps? If so, huge attrition due to poor leadership, strategy and terrible people management. Most of the best people have gone (i lleft with a 70% salary hike) To be fair the good ones left are benefiting from getting better projects and more opportunities.It's quite a hard decision to leave as it has a great culture, good work life balance and some great pockets of capability. However, once you get your CV out there you will see how many opportunities there really are!

I've had loads of CAP people come across my desk but again, because of recent wins, thats not entirely surprising given that there have been rumours of chaos there for a few years now.Last year, I had a tranche of disillusioned Deloitte partner-programme people who felt that the road was clogged and they coudnt see a future for themselves.

Hi Someguy and Guess Thanks for posting.Guess, I think it better not to disclose my company - but the culture is similar to that you describe.Someguy: hindsight is a wonderful thing indeed. Is this a blip - unless we get bought out or close, then yes by definition - as we cannot sustain this rate of attrition. It;s not a single consultancy poaching as people are going to many different consultancies. I am interested to see if this is happening or has recently happend at other consultancies. thanks

The exact same thing is happening at the company I currently work for (a 'tier 2' consultancy). This is mainly due to poor pay, inadequate/non-existent investment in training and slow career progression.Those that leave move on to good roles, e.g. M&A in investment banking or respected consulting firms.

I have to say, no one i know who left has regretted it - they are all paid more and happier.HOWEVER, if you are happy where you are staying may make sense. You can always use it to your advantage...

This is an issue I am particularly on top of, as staff retention problems are usually a more significant driver of demand for consulting hires than actual growth of a consulting business (and so an understanding of this is key to the Top-Consultant business).Deteriorating staff retention rates are a major problem across the consulting industry right now, so I would not say that what you are seeing is in any way abnormal ibuprofen. In the peak / boom years a 25% staff attrition rate was not uncommon - so a quarter of all consulting staff moving on each year and needing to be replaced just for the firm to stand still was quite the norm. Contrast this with revenue growth rates of 10-15% (some of which would have been being achieved through rises in billable rates) and you can see that staff churn in a boom is the biggest contributor to hiring demand.In a harsh downturn - and certainly in the market we've seen from late 2008 to early 2010 - this attrition rate plummets to only a few percent. Growth of firms collapses (or even turns negative), but the single biggest contributor to the lack of jobs out there is actually the dwindling need for firms to replace staff who are moving on.To come full circle to your original question, this situation has now been almost fully reversed. The major firms are now seeing staff attrition rates back up at 15-20%, so even though the industry as a whole is not growing a great deal this year there is a major increase in hiring needed just for firms to stand still.The really interesting dynamic in the current market is that firms' margins have been really squeezed, so none have been able to afford generous across-the-board pay rises to try and stem the rising staff attrition rates. The impact on the bottom line would simply be too great. But finding themselves unable to staff projects that are being won (especially in FS), firms are now willing to up the ante very significantly to entice in suitable new hires. And so for those able to secure a move there is the very real prospect of securing a sizeable remuneration gain that those staying put are simply not achieving. Which as word spreads of course makes the likelihood of more people leaving grow; and the resulting number of jobs out there grow too.The trade-off as I see it then is between the prospect of achieving a significant pay hike right now by moving... and the potential that your career path may be rewarded by staying put and showing loyalty to your employer. Not an easy call and obviously very dependent on where you are right now and how likely it is that this loyalty is likely to be rewarded...Tony RestellTop-Consultant.com

Hi Tony, thanks for posting.Your analysis is an interesting one and seems to be matching what I am seeing. Those peers getting jobs in other consultancies are reporting, if some what ambiguously, significant salary increases. Those being hired at my firm are rumoured to be getting good packages.My dilemma remains of course - jump ship or stay the course. But it's good to know its likley an industry wide event. Initial thoughts after pondering your post are that if you can find a new position it is likely that the new company will actually want you, as they couldn't afford to just fill a hole. And that the remuneration is likley to reflect that. Of course you will need to perfrom in the new role. Anyone jumped ship and had a good/bad experience or perhaps more interestingly stayed the course after having had teh opportunity to leave and had a good/bad experience?Thanks

ibuprofen - you've hit on the other very significant trend of this year, namely that firms are hardly undertaking any "general practice building" hiring of the type that would've been the norm up until 2008. In today's market they are looking to fill very specific roles where they know they have an immediate need and where the hire will be more or less immediately billable.This explains in part the willingness to up the ante for new hires, because if you're potentially going to forgo £1k-£2k per day in lost day rates from not making a successful hire that certainly pushes firms to make remuneration offers that they wouldn't extend to the entire business....Good luck with your dilemmaTony RestellTop-Consultant.com