Employee turnover dynamics in the hospitality industry vs. the overall economy

High employee turnover is a widely known reality for the hospitality industry. However, the extent to which employee turnover in the hospitality industry depends on overall economic activities or idiosyncratic characteristics of the hospitality industry is not clear. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which the employee turnover rate in the hospitality industry is sensitive to the overall US economy. Also, the COVID-19-pandemic has further exacerbated an already convoluted issue of employee turnover for hospitality businesses. Therefore, we further investigate the extent to which employee turnover rate in the hospitality industry are sensitive to the overall US economy during the pandemic period. The results show that employee turnover in the hospitality industry has the highest sensitivity to the economy. However, employee turnover in the hospitality industry decreases the most in the overall US economy when economy-wide turnover increases. The theoretical and practical implications are extensively discussed.

• 1) To what extent are employee turnover rates in the hospitality industry different from employee turnover rates in the overall U.S. economy and other sectors of the economy?
• 2) To what extent do employee turnover rates in the hospitality industry change due to changes in employee turnover rates in the overall U.S. economy (i.e., to what extent are employee turnover rates in the hospitality industry economy-driven)?
• 3) If economy driven effects were to be detected, would the effects be similar when economy-wide turnover is increasing, versus when economy-wide turnover is decreasing?
• 4) To what extent do employee turnover rates in the hospitality industry change irrespectively of the changes in employee turnover rates in the overall U.S. economy (i.e., to what extent are employee turnover rates in the hospitality sector industry-driven)?
• 5) To what extent does the recent COVID-19 pandemic affect these relationships?

Source: Science Direct