THE GREAT RESIGNATION - Shivanshi Garg

 

41% of the working population is planning to switch jobs this year. 95% of Americans are thinking of quitting their current jobs this year. The world is in the middle of a “Great Resignation”. This term was coined by Anthony Klotz. He calls this trend “A pandemic epiphany”. So, it becomes important to understand – why are people leaving their jobs? Where are they going? And should you consider quitting too? We will try to understand all of this through this article.

Let’s start with some statistics. Microsoft conducted a survey and found that 4.3 million people quit their jobs in August 2021 in the USA which is 2.9% of America’s working population. Additionally, 20 million Americans have left their jobs since April 2021. Data from the OECD countries shows that in 38 member countries at least 20 million workers have not returned to work since the pandemic struck. In India, in the technology sector, the attrition rate has risen by 23%. Not everyone is leaving because of unemployment benefits from their government or because they have to care for a child or an elderly at home or because their family has relocated during the pandemic. The elephant in the room is “Work-life Balance”. For decades, the working class has planned their calendars as per their work schedule. People had always prioritized work over their personal lives. But now the pandemic has changed all of this. It forced people to see the unpredictability of life, to reflect on what really matters to them. And people realized that it was not their work. And thus, they started reimagining their lives. People started doing what they like, maybe opening startups, trading, following their hobbies as full-time work, starting freelancing, etc. No wonder the great resignation is also being called “A workers’ revolution”. It is a legacy of the pandemic. It gave people newfound respect for themselves and for life. A survey that asked people why they quit their jobs revealed that 40% cited burnout as the reason, another 20% said lack of flexibility and another 16% said that their previous employer did not support their well-being. And when they were asked what they want in their new job, 40% responded that they wanted the ability to work remotely according to their personal preference. People today do not want their lives to revolve around their job anymore. They instead want their jobs to fit into the kind of life they want to live. People are looking for jobs that are flexible, remote, have shorter workdays, and have 4-day work weeks. LinkedIn studied the trend and it found that the percentage of LinkedIn members who updated their profiles and found a job has increased 54% y-o-y. Gen Z was found to have switched the most. Their job transition increased by 80%. Next in line were millennials with an increase of 50% and then Gen X and finally, the boomers. This was the employees’ side of the story.

Now let’s look at the employers’ side of the story as well. The first year of the pandemic was a nightmare. Offices were closed and when they reopened, supply bottleneck strangled operations and now workers are quitting. It’s like being out of the frying pan into the fire. As a result, what are the companies doing to retain their top talent? Some companies are offering higher increments and bonuses. Reports say that wages for low-paid workers are rising at the fastest rate since the great recession. Some employers are even giving collective holidays. All of these benefits are exciting indeed but if a company has to survive this great resignation it must deep dive into an employees’ mind and see what he/she really wants. The term they will find is flexibility. Companies must allow workers to work from home if they want. They must follow the hybrid working model and become diverse. Today, a paycheck is no longer enough and companies must realize this as soon as possible. They must also realize that employees are tired, many are grieving, and thus they need to be given a reason to return to work every Monday. Thus, companies will have to give better health policies, come up with better family engagement policies. Companies will have to make them feel valued. It's time to reimagine work, office culture, and leadership. Because if companies don’t do this, other firms will, and thus, they will lose out in the race for talent.

Now, the final question is What should you do? The answer to this question lies with you only. It’s for you to decide what you want to do, what suits your economic situation, what helps you pay your loans, what helps you support your family? Is it a 9 to 5 job or freelancing? Soul searching is all nice and good but survival, that’s a battle that you alone need to fight. Thus, if you are content in your current workplace and if you like what you do, the people you work with, then why fall for The Great Resignation?