Managers must take awfully good care of their workers to keep a lot of Californians as Californians.
Whether all the headaches of Golden State life serve as motivation or desperation for employers, California bosses ranked third-best when my trusty spreadsheet undertook a state-by-state grading of employers using five workplace metrics. The scorecard reviewed 10 years worth of job stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics – quits, dismissals and hirings, incomes adjusted by a state’s cost of living, and the most recent “best place to work” ranking from Oxfam.
Massachusetts and Washington were the only states with better grades than California, with New York and Connecticut just behind the Golden State. The worst bosses, by this math, were found in Mississippi, then Georgia, Louisiana, West Virginia, and Idaho.
Oh, and California’s key economic rivals? Texas was No. 34 while Florida was No. 20.
The details
Here’s how the Golden State scored in those five workplace yardsticks …
Quits: Lots of management research shows that bad bosses are a top reason why workers leave.
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So it’s noteworthy that California had the seventh-lowest number of quits as a share of all workers, at 2% in 2014-23. That’s well below the 2.4% nationwide median.
The lowest quit rates were in New York at 1.5%, then Massachusetts at 1.6%. Highest? Alaska at 3.4%, Montana at 3.1%, and Wyoming at 3%. Texas ranked No. 37 at 2.7% as Florida, was No. 27 at 2.4%.
Dismissals: Who wants to work for bosses known for layoffs and firings?
It may be comforting to learn that California had the ninth-lowest dismissal rate, averaging 1.2% in 2014-23. That’s just below the 1.3% national median.
The bosses who cut the least were in Minnesota and Virginia at 1.1%, and Alabama and Iowa at 1.2%. Most-likely-to-let-you-go was management in Alaska at 2%, then Montana and Wyoming at 1.7%. Texas ranked No. 21 at 1.3% as Florida, was No. 14 at 1.23%. .
Hires: Good bosses are always looking for – and adding – new talent. However, California employers haven’t been in a hiring mood when viewed with a national lens.
In 2014-23, California bosses added staff at 3.5% of all staff – seventh-slowest among the states and below the 4.1% pace nationally. The slowest-hiring bosses were in New York at 3.1%, and Massachusetts and Connecticut at 3.3%.
The largest hiring could be found in Alaska, where staff additions were 5.9% of all workers. Next came Montana at 5.2% and Wyoming at 5%. Texas ranked No. 17 at 4.4% as Florida, was No. 30 at 4%.
Note that states with lots of quits and dismissals also ranked high on hirings. Well, they have to replace the folks that departed.
Pay: A fair paycheck can earn plenty of worker loyalty.
And California’s per capita income, even adjusted for its lofty cost of living, still ranked fifth-best among the states by averaging $61,600 in 2013-22, the latest stats available, That’s 21% above the $50,900 median state income.
Highest incomes were in Connecticut at $71,800, Massachusetts at $69,200, and New Jersey at $64,700. Lowest? Mississippi at $38,800, West Virginia at $41,200, and Alabama at $42,000. Texas ranked No. 23 at $51,500 as Florida was No. 24 at $51,200.
Workplace quality: Bosses are often nudged to be nice. Let’s say pro-labor laws do have perks.
Consider that a scorecard by Oxfam ranked California as the best state to work, just ahead of Oregon and New York.
The worst places were North Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia. Texas was No. 45 while Florida was No. 28.
Bottom line
California’s lofty grades parallel a quirky a measurement of state-level business efficiency I previously discovered. This “labor productivity” yardstick gauges the value of goods and services produced by a state’s private businesses (outside of agriculture) to how much labor is involved.
California had the third-highest productivity growth over the last 17 years. Only Washington and North Dakota grew faster.
It appears California bosses, by this productivity yardstick, get a good return for being nice.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]
