. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/BFA/W/84
11 November 2002
(02-6210)
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration
RETENTION DIFFICULTIES
1. In the course of its consideration of the report by the external consultant on the survey of
salaries and allowances (document WT/BFA/W/80), the Committee on Budget, Finance and
Administration requested the Secretariat to provide further details concerning the retention difficultiesbeing experienced by the Organization.  The present paper has been drafted in response to that
request.
2. As previously explained, the Secretariat has detected a significant trend in the pattern of
separations from the Organization in the course of recent years, with increasing numbers of staff
leaving to take up more attractive employment elsewhere.  The following table summarizes theexperience over the period since 1999 and also highlights the cases of separations attributable to
"retention difficulties", that is, cases where staff have left to pursue more attractive opportunities with
other employers.
Year Total separationsAs a percentage of
total staff at
year-endSeparations
attributable to
retention difficulties
1999 12 2.3% 4
2000 14 2.6% 4
2001 22 3.9% 11
2002 (up to
31 October)33 5.6% 9
3. The following tables analyse further the cases attributable to retention difficulties which have
occurred since 1999.WT/BFA/W/84
Page 2
Breakdown of retention cases by grade and by occupational group
Grade Total
32
42
61
75
85
97
10 3
11 3
Occupational Group Total
Economist 11
Information Technology 2
Lawyer 11
Support 4
4. The average length of service of staff leaving the Secretariat to take up more attractive
employment elsewhere has been 4 years 2 months over the period since 1999.
3. The above statistics show a significant increase in the rate of separations due to retention
difficulties in the past two years, with a concentration in the professional grades and among
economists and lawyers in particular where the turnover rate has been over 10 per cent and 20 per
cent, respectively.  This provides further evidence of the lack of competitivity caused by the
compression of the upper ranges of the WTO salary scale.
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