Data from interviews with 750 employers in Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Los Angeles were used to analyze the job performance and retention rates of recently hired welfare recipients. The 20-minute interviews focused on employers' subjective ratings of recently hired welfare recipients' job performance and whether employers experienced the following problems with recently hired welfare recipients: absenteeism; poor work attitudes; deficient basic skills; deficient job skills; substance abuse; and poor relations with coworkers. According to the employers, most welfare recipients perform their jobs as well as or better than nonwelfare recipients employed in comparable jobs, and their turnover rates were fairly low. Nevertheless, absenteeism was pervasive among recently hired welfare recipients and was often linked to child care and transportation problems. Problems stemming from poor attitudes toward work and poor relations with coworkers were also observed fairly frequently. The results of regression analyses led to the following conclusions, among others: (1) High school graduates and Hispanics have lower absenteeism rates; (2) proximity to public transportation was associated with lower absenteeism rates; (3) employees in jobs with employer-provided health insurances or chances of future promotion experienced less absenteeism; and (4) employers who did more screening experienced lower rates of absenteeism. (Contains 28 references and 12 tables.) (MN)