Google Turns to Algorithm to Retain Employees

Google is dealing with the departures of several prized employees the way it deals with nearly everything: with an algorithm. The search giant has a mathematical formula it says will identify which employees are at risk of jumping ship, the Wall Street Journal reports. The formula has already spotted employees who feel underused, a key complaint.

The company fears that it's lost its biggest draws—a startup atmosphere and ever-soaring stock price—now that it’s a 20,000-person behemoth. Many are leaving for burgeoning startups where they feel they can make a bigger impact. But with the formula, Google’s human resource head says they can “get inside people's heads even before they know they might leave.” (More Google stories.)