A NOTE ON AND A STUDY OF THE ‘FLOATING POPULATION’ EXPLANATION OF LABOUR TURNOVER
| Published date | 01 November 1970 |
| Date | 01 November 1970 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1970.tb00587.x |
420
BRITISH
JOURNAL
OF
INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
After
n
years the proportion of ‘good’ people in those remaining is:
&=-=
Gn
(1
-g>”
Gn
+
B,
(
1
-g)”~ +
(1
-
b)”(
1
-
X)
(5)
We examine the cohort
of
median length of service, 12 years,12 and assume this
is
also
representative of the entire stock in terms of ‘quality’, measured here
as
‘proportion of stock having first-class honours degree’.
We also have
R12
=
0.44
(Calculated from Robbins Report)
(Calculated from U.G.C. Wastage Survey)
g
=
0-015
b
=
0.037
(0.985)12~
(O*985)l2x+ (0~963)~’(1
-x)
So
(5)
becomes:
0.44
=
From which
:
x
=
0.37
That is,
a
cohort of
37
per cent ‘good’ members with differential wastage
given by
g
and
b,
after 12 years has
44
per cent ‘good’ members. The upward
bias due to differential wastage
is
thus
7
per cent.
Willii
ct
al.,
@.
d.’
p.
D16
RESEARCH NOTE
A NOTE ON AND A STUDY
OF
THE ‘FLOATING
POPULATION’ EXPLANATION
OF
LABOUR TURNOVER
RAY
WILD*
AND
c.
c.
RIDGEWAYt
THE
reasons for labour turnover are fundamentally
of
two
types, i.e. ‘involun-
tary’ and ‘voluntary’. Except in cases of redundancy and dismissal, employers
have no direct control over ‘involuntary’ turnover which is commonly associated
with employees’ removal from the district, illness, pregnancy, domestic commit-
ments etc. ‘Voluntary’ turnover derives from reasons such
as
dislike of the job,
need for higher pay etc., which ultimately are within the control of employers.
In addition, however, it has been argued that ‘voluntary’ turnover also derives
from apparently irrational reasons, which is said to be demonstrated by the
existence of the so-called ‘floating population’ of workers.
It
is
frequently argued
that
a
high labour turnover amongst manual work-
ers is caused by the existence of
a
‘floating population’ of workers who move
rapidly from job to job, expressing dissatisfaction with each job on which they
are employed. Statements such
as
the following are often heard in industry,
particularly when the subject is female manual workers
:
‘There will always be
a
number
of
workers who will be dissatisfied with any job that they get. These
*
Head
of
the Production Programme, Management Centre, University
of
Bradford
t
Engineering Industry Training
Board
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