In The News
Are U.S. Workers Ditching Jobs For Franchise Opportunities?
Jan 14, 2012
Number of people voluntarily leaving jobs steeply up
With national unemployment still hovering around 9 percent and “job creation” the term on every politician’s lips, you’d think employed North Americans would be happy to just have jobs — and you’d be wrong.
A recent survey by Right Management, a Philadelphia talent and career management firm, yielded some astonishing results: For the second year in a row, 84 percent of more than 1,000 employees surveyed said they plan to look for other jobs in 2012. The percentage of workers who said they intended to stay in their jobs remained steady, too — at a shocking 5 percent.
Those data take on even more meaning when you consider that huge numbers of Americans, even with the economy in the shape it’s in, are actually quitting their jobs. Nearly 2 million voluntarily quit in May 2011, up 35 percent from January 2010, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Voluntarily quit, often without another job lined up.
So what’s going on?
One explanation: Professionals are simply getting tired of the corporate job treadmill, with its rigidity and limited opportunities for advancement, and turning to self-employment through franchising as a way to seize control of their careers and financial futures.
Even in the midst of a recession, the franchising industry has grown at an impressive pace, adding 19,000 units in 2011 and continued growth projected into 2012. The diversity of franchise opportunities continues to grow, too; the industry is adding low-cost, service-oriented businesses to its roster of traditional food franchises.
“In the last couple of years, we’ve helped thousands of professionals burned out from the corporate grind reinvent themselves as entrepreneurs through franchising,” says Jania Bailey, the president and COO at FranNet, an international network of franchise consultants. “The opportunities in the franchising industry are more extensive than ever, and the Right Management survey results and BLS statistics just show that American workers crave the kind of control and growth opportunities franchising offers.”
Right Management surveyed 1,077 American and Canadian employees online from Oct. 15 to Nov. 15. The firm concluded that employees distrust management in their jobs and believe they lack options. Many franchisees cite the freedom of self-employment and the scalability of their businesses as advantages.
“We find over and over that once smart, driven professionals take the plunge into entrepreneurship,” Bailey says, “they never want to go back to working for someone else.”
For more information about franchise opportunities and FranNet’s free services, see www.frannet.com.
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