Attrition is a funny thing. When I started my job within about two months almost 50% of the staff had turned over. After six months two more people had left. So we changed a lot and almost every time someone left we had a little lunch/party for them. Then we had a dry spell and after about a year we had another “lunch” today. Two of our esteemed colleagues are leaving to pursue their dreams elsewhere. They will be missed. But this made me think of all the people I have worked with over the years in all of the places where I was employed.
First was with my brother, we mowed lawns. We did that throughout high school and when I went to college my two younger brothers kept up with the business and did it as they went through high school. While I was in high school I worked at Wendy’s. It was a no-brainer job, but they worked well around my school schedule and gave me extra money for my free time. Then I worked for two years as a missionary for my church. During that time I learned how to get along with all kinds of people in all types of situations. I also learned that I AM responsible for how I react; no one can MAKE me feel/ do anything. I took that with me and apply it in many aspects of my life. When I returned home I went to college and worked at a gas station/video store (convenience store). Horkley’s was a local oil company that provided supplies to the agricultural industry. There where many farmers whose families would come in and get movies and such while they were getting fuel and charge it all to the business account. I was the only employee who was not from that area and as such I was treated just like everybody else. Then after finishing with that school I moved and attended another college and I wanted to build on what I had done so I went to work at another convenience store. This time it was in a pretty high-profile place right off the interstate. Being in a larger community there were definitely many different types of people that I worked with. Probably over 100 in almost four years and they left for a variety of reasons. My favorite was a guy who was hired and then never came back after the drug test…Duh! You don’t have to be a genius to know why he never came back. My next real job was with EDS as tech support for HP. I was there for three years then they laid us off and shipped our jobs to Canada. This was definitely another type of attrition. I was looking for a while why I finished grad school and tried to find something in the field I was educated in then I took whatever job I could get. I worked for two months as a collection agent for a credit card company and looked everyday for something else. I ended up working for PSI a contractor for the state doing customer service for child support. Like some of the others it was an interesting job. I learned about how child support works (I hope I never have to deal with it) and how people are the same no matter where the job is. People are either working for the better of the group or for themselves. The PSI job was good but with a wife and two kids to support I was always looking for something else. Finally I ended up at my present job. Maybe later I’ll write more about my employment history, but that is enough for now.
Attrition is a change for all parties involved. The two will be missed.
