Attrition among the new hires has been a challenge faced by the managers in IT organizations. Many companies struggle to find the right fit, select a talented and motivated technical employee and then suffer a jolt when the person they hired quits before the completion of training. IT industry, which is already suffering from alarmingly high employee costs, incurs huge costs due to its inability to retain a new competent hire. The objective of the paper is to analyze the causes of premature exit of employees from their jobs to understand the role of soft skills in dealing with the situations arising in new work environment. The study attempts to investigate how an emphasis on soft skills and personality-related issues during hiring process, on boarding process and training can mitigate the rate of attrition among early hires.

Attrition of new employees among IT industry has long been a concern for the HR and organizations. Many companies struggle to find the right fit, select a talented and motivated technical employee and then suffer jolt when the person they hired quits before the completion of training. IT industry, which is already suffering from alarmingly high employee costs, incurs huge costs due to its inability to retain a new competent hire. It is consistently reported that cost of new hires who jump the ship early has a drastic impact on organizational credibility and bottom line of an organization. The cost skyrockets when the employees leave the organization before a year. It not only questions the judgment of the hiring manager but also devastates the morale of the employees. Organizations make considerable investment in terms of training and developing the early hires to drive the performance. Hence, the pressure to reduce attrition among the new hires is of urgent concern. The present paper aims to analyze the causes of premature exit of employees from their jobs to understand the role of soft skills in dealing with the situations arising in new work environment.

Soft Skills Journal, Attrition Among, New Hires, New Hire Attrition, Competency Assessment, On Boarding, Role of Soft Skills, Hiring Metrics, Soft Skill Perspective.