A Great Resignation by the Millions
In the United States since early 2021, millions of people have quit their jobs every month; why are people leaving their jobs at such a rapid pace?
Alexander Bishop October 5, 2022
Daniel Gouthro, senior manager of corporate public relations at software company UKG, says that we have seen anywhere from 4.5 to 6.5 million people quit their jobs every month for the last 18 months.
Why are people quitting their jobs now of all times? There are seemingly more job openings than ever before, and people are leaving their jobs in record numbers. Our country is facing a resignation of great proportions.
Employee-Manager Disconnection
UKG fielded a survey and talked to nearly 2,000 employees and almost 1,900 people managers across numerous countries worldwide to understand why employees quit or changed their jobs since the start of the pandemic.
Gouthro believes that a disconnection between employee and manager is a lead factor in job resignations nationwide.
“There’s a disconnect as to why people quit and why their managers think they quit,” he says.
Employees don’t want to stay at a company that isn’t on the same page as they are. Lydia McCracken, a former employee of the retail industry, is an example of this.
“My financial needs did not align with my employer’s goals, so I left for better pay and am better off because of it,” she said.
According to Gouthro, more pay is the number one reason employees have been quitting in The Great Resignation, and the managers, when asked, answered the same as the employees.
The second reason is a little harder to quantify.
“The number two reason why people say they are quitting is because they don’t feel valued by their employer,” said Gouthro.
Unlike the employees, management had a different idea as to what the second reason might be.
“The number two reason why managers thought people were quitting their jobs was because of family and childcare responsibilities and obligations,” says Gouthro.
The manager-employee disconnect begins here, where all an employee wants is to feel appreciated by their management, and the managers believe that familial issues are the problem.
It doesn’t end here, though.
Career Growth, or Lack Thereof
“I held the same position for three years without assistance in career growth. When I asked about promotion-related opportunities, I was always shut down,” says McCracken.
Fostering career growth starts with management and, when done correctly, can result in a thriving workforce, but when overseen, can result in mass resignations.
According to Gouthro, the third reason managers believe their employees are quitting is because of too many Covid precautions, and the fourth is work-life burnout.
The Covid-19 precautions might be dying down now, but the resignations continue to thrive throughout the country, so these precautions can’t be what has been a primary force driving people to quit.
“The third reason employees quit was work-life balance; they felt burnt-out,” says Gouthro. “The fourth reason is a lack of career development opportunities.”
Two out of four reasons employees quit didn’t even hit the managers’ radar, with managers seemingly coming up with excuses for things that were out of their control.
“The truth is that feeling valued is in control of the manager to help people see what they’re doing, why it matters, how it connects to the big picture and giving them thanks,” says Gouthro. “Managers can play a huge role in helping their workers see and design what their career journey might look like.”
Resignation Regret
People are leaving their jobs by the millions, but some, like Tyler Nichols, a former food-service worker, regrets leaving his old job.
“I miss my old job, the pay is a little better where I am now, but the atmosphere and friends I made at my old job seem much more appealing to me at this point,” he said.
‘Boomerang’ employees are what is looked upon to be the next big trend, with some workers returning to the jobs they quit.
According to Gouthro, 43% of people miss their old job and say it was better for them than their new one, even though they’re getting more pay now.
Employees aren’t the only ones who miss their old jobs; their old employers also want them back.
“Employers are much more willing to invite employees back than they may have been in the past,” says Gouthro.
Looking Forward
As The Great Resignation continues to surge, the future looks uncertain for the job market in this country.
Even as people leave their jobs by the millions, there is hope in how we can conduct business and interact with our employees to better our companies and people as a whole.
Gouthro believes that promoting good managers, taking care of people, and supporting organizations that focus on people are the key to success in these trying times.
“I do think The Great Resignation is here to stay, but I also think that, just like a lot of things, we’ll learn to live with it,” says Gouthro.
