Good morning. CFOs are concerned about retaining exceptional talent. And Gen Z workers don’t tend to stay in the same jobs for too long. But new research by the Bank of America Institute suggests that job hoppers could be taking a pause as pay bumps for changing jobs fizzle.
During the height of the Great Resignation in 2022, a record 4.5 million workers quit their jobs, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Bank of America researchers looked at aggregated and anonymized internal deposit account data across millions of customers to track job-to-job (J2J) moves. They found out the rate at which people are making these J2J changes by identifying changes in payroll within deposit accounts.
J2J moves are still above 2019 levels, according to the report. However, the most recent change rate is estimated to be around 3% on average. Moves are starting to moderate from the unprecedented highs of the Great Resignation when the change rate reached almost 4%.
However, there has been somewhat of a rebound in the J2J rate of higher-income customers (earning $100,000 or more, with the year-over-year change surpassing that of lower-income customers (earning $50,000 or less) in the past few months, according to the findings. This reverses a trend that existed since April 2021. But the researchers suggest the current rebound is a stabilization of the earlier sharper fall in the higher-income job change rate.
For those individuals who continue to frequently change employers, take note—you’ll most likely be getting a smaller bump in pay from your new employer. When the Great Resignation was in full swing, the median pay raise people received when changing jobs reached more than 20%. But as of May 2024, median pay raises appear to have moderated to around 10% for J2J moves, below 2019 levels.
“This continued downward trend suggests the labor market is no longer as tight, and the balance of power between employer and employee has shifted back towards the hiring firm,” according to the report.
But it would benefit employers to keep employees from eyeing the door. Mars, Inc., the $50 billion global food and pet care giant, is a major company working toward retention.
“I would say to any young worker, explore the opportunities within your organization,” Shaid Shah, global president of Mars Food & Nutrition, told Fortune in a recent interview. “The grass always seems greener outside.” Mentorship for young employees is essential, as well as providing known opportunities for growth, he said.
Mars has “so many different aspects and dimensions to it, it has so many different variables of opportunity, and I think if you spent a whole career at Mars, you would probably get through only a fraction of them,” Shah said.
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Some notable moves this week:
Lauren Cooks Levitan, CFO at Faire, an online wholesale marketplace that has raised over $1 billion from investors, was promoted to president. Jason Lee, VP of finance, will succeed Levitan as CFO. Levitan joined Faire in 2019 as its first finance chief. She was previously the CFO at Fanatics and has more than 30 years of experience in retail.
Simona Jankowski was named CFO at Lightmatter, a photonic supercomputing startup. Jankowski brings more than 20 years of experience to the role. She joins Lightmatter from Nvidia, where she was VP of investor relations and strategic finance during a period of unprecedented growth for the company. Previously, she was a managing director at Goldman Sachs, where she led equity research for the hardware and communications technology sectors and managed the Global Investment Research office in San Francisco.
Fred Cromer was named EVP and CFO at Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE), effective July 8. Brian McMenamy, who served as interim CFO, will remain in a senior finance role for a transition period. Cromer brings three decades of experience. He most recently served as CEO, and previously CFO, of Xwing, Inc., an aviation technology company. Before that, Cromer served as president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, president of international lease finance corporation, and CFO and VP at ExpressJet Airlines.
Andrew Skobe was named interim CFO at Fossil Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: FOSL), effective immediately. Skobe assumes the CFO role from Sunil Doshi, who is leaving the company for another opportunity. Doshi will remain with the company through July 19. Fossil has initiated a search for a permanent CFO successor to Doshi. Skobe was previously managing director at Ankura Consulting Group, LLC. Before that, he was EVP and CFO for Radisson Hotel Group. Previously, he spent four years as EVP and CFO for Croscill Home-Excell-Glenoit.
Asheley Kinsey was named CFO at 8 Rivers Capital, LLC, a decarbonization technology developer. Kinsey brings 25 years of energy industry expertise to the role. She previously served as SVP of strategy, corporate development and energy transition at TC Energy. Before that, Kinsey spent nearly 15 years in the investment banking industry at RBC Capital Markets, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley working with companies in the power, utilities, renewables, midstream, and liquefied natural gas sectors.
Big Deal
An international study by Vodafone Business and the London School of Economics explores how effective technology and approach could bridge the trust gap between businesses and their customers. For example, businesses that use AI and generative AI to deliver faster response times could see a 16% jump in customer trust scores if the technology is deployed with a human touch, according to the report.
Another key finding is 59% of customers surveyed think that AI-savvy businesses are more likely to make accurate predictions. And 53% say they would have confidence in AI technologies completing day-to-day tasks more effectively. The findings are based on 5,300 customers and 2,300 businesses across 11 sectors in 10 markets.
Going deeper
Here are a few Fortune weekend reads:
“Southwest’s Gary Kelly flew the company through pandemic turbulence, but will an activist attack bring it all crashing down?” by Leo Schwartz
“Morgan Stanley just made this sleeper bank stock its top pick after acing its stress test” by Michael del Castillo
“Leonardo DiCaprio–backed AI startup Qloo clinches $20 million investment from Bluestone Equity Partners” by Luisa Beltran
“Can’t get a good night’s rest? Watch out for these 8 ways you may be sabotaging your sleep” by Lindsey Leake
Overheard
“Critical thinking, problem-solving, negotiation, curiosity, adaptability, shared risk-taking, and other so-called ‘soft skills’ are increasingly called ‘durable skills’ because there’s nothing soft about them.”
—Carolyn Cawley, the outgoing president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, writes in a new Fortune opinion piece.
