The Covid-19 pandemic, even though it has been three years since its onset, is still manageable but remains at the top of the list of global worries. After March 2020, the resignation rates started plummeting across the world due to the uncertainty and fear resulting from the pandemic. But soon after that, employees across sectors experienced collective burnout and started leaving their jobs at unprecedented rates.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total number of separations stood at 6.3 million in March 2022. The collective estimate says that 75.5 million people in the U.S. resigned in 2021 in total. This sudden upheaval is termed ‘The Great Resignation’.
If you run an organization or lead its hiring process, it is important for you to know about the Great Resignation in detail to prevent this from harming your business in the long run. Let’s get started.
What is the Great Resignation?
Also known as the “Big Quit” and the “Great Shuffle”, the Great Resignation is a current economic trend shaped by the sudden surge of voluntary resignations placed by employees en masse, starting in early 2021. The term was coined by Anthony Klotz, a professor of management at Texas A&M University in mid-2021 when he predicted a sustained mass exodus.
If you are worried about the possible impact of workers quitting jobs at a high rate, it is important to know what causes them to leave.
Top 5 Reasons Employees Leave Their Jobs
The pandemic has made employees rethink their careers and long-term goals. Since there is more competition across industries to hire the best talent, it makes people feel more empowered about quitting their jobs.
Given below are the top five reasons that have pushed employees to leave their current jobs for a better one:
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No Scope for Growth
In the current competitive environment, even the most talented employees love to expand their skill set and learn new things. But if the workplace and tasks at hand do not allow them to develop skills, they tend to switch jobs and find the one where they can utilize their full potential while also developing new skills.
If your employees feel like they cannot learn more in their current capacity but only do repetitive tasks, it is your responsibility as a manager to challenge them and help them learn relevant skills. The more you help them identify career options within the organization and provide professional training, the more likely they will stay.
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Having a Bad Manager
In most organizations, senior employees with years of experience in a specific forte often seem like the right person to handle a managerial role. However, not all individuals are good managers and some of them do not even want to manage things on their own. In fact, some managers micromanage things as a way to keep track of things and get things done.
If your employees feel unsure how their manager views their role and progress, they are more likely to look for a new job during the Great Resignation period. On the brighter side, it is important to develop training programs for managers to use the right tools and insights needed to foster employee-manager relationships.
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Inadequate Compensation
Employees who feel that they are underpaid for the work they do start looking for new jobs. With their particular skills and experience, they become versed in handling more responsibilities and hence, expect more money for their hard work.
Amidst budget cuts and limited resources resulting from financial hardships at the organizational level, many employees tend to feel less secure in their roles. In such situations, finding a job that offers adequate compensation is one way for them to live a financially secure life.
It is therefore important for employers to hire and retain great talent with adequate compensation and pay raises over time.
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Lack of Challenges & Learning Opportunities
No employee would want to feel bored and unchallenged when at work. While spending one-third of their days at the workplace, they want to learn and enjoy working on new things and handling different responsibilities. While they may switch job roles over time, it is their developed skills that will help them grow and advance in their careers.
For both leaders and managers at work, it is important to work closely with their teams and ensure that the team members are engaged, excited, and challenged to perform better. Otherwise, you will lose them in the Great Resignation to your competitor or an employer who takes care of providing learning opportunities.
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Difficulty Maintaining Work-Life Balance
Besides giving their best when at work, employees also want to give time to their family and friends to maintain a healthy work-life balance. However, in certain industries or organizations, managers tend to push their employees to work overtime, thus impacting their personal time. Employees can withstand such work pressure only to a certain point, after which they feel burnt out and look for a job that can help them achieve this balance.
This is one reason why good companies model and encourage their teams to set boundaries, the lack of which can contribute to various workplace issues.
Impact of the Pandemic on the Job Market and Employee Mindset
The pandemic has changed the way people view their jobs and careers. Remote work has become more common, and many employees have had to adjust to working from home .
With the whole planet going into different forms of lockdowns in March 2020, the world economy contracted dramatically and made companies start laying off employees and reducing the salaries of their employees. But after the gradual reopening of markets, there has been a massive, sudden surge in the demand for goods and services. This, in turn, has fueled the demand for skilled workers to provide the same. Companies that laid-off employees then wanted to scale up faster with hiring sprees.
Ultimately, it turned out that people who want to start working again are worth more. Employees saw their peers getting hired for more money, which caused a series of resignations across industries known as the Great Resignation. The trend of people quitting jobs for better wages and work environment has continued till 2022, making employers do their best to hire right and retain the existing talent.
The changed employee mindset has made employers think twice about making hiring decisions in a frenzy.Overall, the pandemic has created a challenging environment for both employers and employees, but it has also presented an opportunity for organizations to adapt and prioritize the well-being of their workforce.
Conclusion
The current economic condition and labor market are quite unique. With record-high quit rates and equally high demand for skilled employees, it is important for you to understand the needs and values of your employees to get a strategic advantage over the competitors. One of the best ways to handle the Great Resignation is to join hands with a trusted staffing solution provider and delegate the task of hiring new employees.
How Can Connect Tech+Talent Help You Hire the Right Individuals?
If you have experienced workers quitting during the Great Resignation, it is time for you to find the right talent with an experienced staffing partner. Connect Tech+Talent, being a top-rated staffing agency with a database of 200,000 candidates, can help you quickly hire qualified candidates for a variety of roles. Talk to a Connect Tech+Talent hiring consultant today.
