Employee Turnover and Competitive Advantage

Employee Turnover and Competitive Advantage When a company fires employees, especially skilled or experienced ones, it is not only losing manpower—it is also losing valuable organizational know-how. This know-how includes technical skills, internal processes, client relationships, and an understanding of company culture and strategy that takes years to build. These are not things that can be easily replaced, if ever, by hiring new people or using documentation. But the issue goes deeper: firing employees is like indirectly “selling” them to the competition. Once those individuals leave, they do not disappear from the job market. Instead, they are usually hired by other companies—often by competitors—who gain immediate access to the knowledge, skills, and insights these people carry, even about their former company. Think of it as “corporate espionage”, without the espionage part.