turnover????????????

We all know how stressful being a dispatcher can be, and the turnover is high... I was curious how long people stay where you are... since I started 3 years ago (Feb 3is my 3rd anniversary) I have seen 20 people hired, most of which are all gone now..I think 6 not including me, and last year we lost 4 "vets" We just hired 3 people but I am sure 2 of the 3 will be gone before 6 months is over... and that is just your relatively easy training.. they don't actually hit the "floor" until at least 6 months...we do have one an who has been there 20+ years, another 17, one 13 (he is on his way out by his choice) and the fourth highest has been there 12.. the other 16 people have been there 5 years or less Of course those in large centers may not have the numbers, I was just curious

Hi Brianna, Ive been at my current job for 7 years...but worked 10years prior to that in a smaller suburban department. I think we have a pretty low turnover rate...maybe cuz we are union employees and our pay scale is pretty good. (cost of living here is crazy though) We have something like 20 dispatchers currently in training, but they won't actually hit the operations floor til April (I think). Soooo, hopefully that will alleviate some of the mandatory overtime issues we're experiencing lately. Don't know how many out of the 20 will actually stick around....it is very intimidating to some folks...and we all know that not everyone likes to help train new hires. And then there are the folks on the other end of the radio who can sometimes behave badly when they hear an unfamiliar voice on the radio. When I worked in the suburbs, it seemed like the burnout rate was about 2 years....then again, the suburban depts tend to have dispatchers doing a whole lot more besides dispatching/answering 911 calls. Paula

Goes in spurts where I am. Right now our turnover rate is relatively low compared to prior years. For awhile there under the dictatorship of our one Lt., we were losing people left and right and couldn't hire and keep newbies. Now as things have changed a bit, we are seeing more and more people hanging around. More than half I would say have been there for about 10 years, give or take one or two. I've been there 14 years. I've heard the statistic since I started dispatching back in 88 that if you're going to burn out it will generally be around the 2 year mark. If you last much past that you'll likely do this for a career. But that didn't speak to one staying at the same department though. Dina

I was at Dothan for 2 1/2 years before I took this Secretary job at the main Police Dept. But when I dispatched before at a much smaller agency in Hartford AL, I was there 8 1/2 years. I love it, but it's no longer what I desire for my family life. In the 2 1/2 years I was at Dothan's comm center; I've seen 11 people get hired after me, and of those 11 only 4 have made it. Not very good odds if you ask me. Sherri