One-Third Of U.S. Companies Losing Workers To Dot.Coms

ByGlenn Hasek A survey of more than 3,400 executives by BrilliantPeople.com found that 32% of U.S. firms have lost an employee to a dot.com company. BrilliantPeople.com is the online recruiting and career site of Cleveland-based Management Recruiters International Inc. (MRI). The numbers were even more dramatic in New England, where almost 52% reported losing an employee to an Internet company. In the West, almost 45% of respondents reported losing a worker, and in the Middle Atlantic region, almost 43%. The survey found that the telecommunications (58%) and information technology (52.4%) industries were most likely to have experienced a loss of employees to a dot.com company. "Those companies in New England, the Mid-Atlantic states, and the West are the hardest hit by employees leaving for dot.com's because these are the epicenters of the Internet industry," says Allen Salikof, president and CEO of MRI. "Furthermore, those employees coming from telecom and IT companies have the skills that are in greatest demand by the dot.com world and are more likely to be lured away."