CRO

Study: CROs dishing out bonuses to halt high turnover

High employee turnover rates have long been a fact of life in the CRO world, but more and more companies are being proactive, amping up their bonus offerings to lure and retain talent, a new study says.

According to a report from HR+Survey Solutions, the turnover rate among CROs came in at 18.6% last year, virtually unchanged from 2011, and the rate among CROs outside the U.S. jumped to 22% from 17.8% the prior year.

But the world's contract researchers aren't sitting pat, according to the survey. Roughly 88% of CROs reported using recruitment bonuses to find talent, up from 65% in 2011, and 53% employed retention bonuses to keep their employees, a jump over 29% the previous year.

Perhaps most interesting is how deep into the payroll CROs are going with these bonuses: Many companies reported using recruitment benefits for employees making less than $60,000, and 30% used them for part-time employees, according to HR+Survey Solutions.

"We often think of recruitment and retention bonuses being used at the top of the house, but in this tough job market, more and more companies are experimenting with bonuses to attract and retain employees at lower levels," HR+ Partner Judy Canavan said in a statement.

- read the survey results (PDF)