The Great Resignation — Why I Left my Stable, High Paying Finance Job
Employers — don’t underestimate this new enemy in the war for talent.
In January of 2020, I was your average millennial knowledge worker with a high-paying and stable job as a financial controller. In April of 2021, I decided to resign. At the time I did not realize I had joined The Great Resignation of 2021, where millions of workers around the world have resigned for various reasons. So what caused me to leave my stable 9–5? Employers beware, there is a new enemy in the war for talent — it is called career downsizing.
Employees are rethinking the role of work
For many knowledge workers, myself included, the pandemic allowed for some much-needed reflection time. I had time to think about my priorities in life and to connect with my core values. As cheesy as it sounds, chances are your workers are doing this as well. There is a movement toward career downsizing among highly educated knowledge workers, who are willing to reduce their income in order to focus on other aspects of life. Often it’s the biggest talents within the company who are also the greatest flight risks, so companies who are serious about keeping their top talents need to be aware of the career downsizing movement.
