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As you know, quitting has reached a record high in 2019, and partly because of the pandemic, this year the number of people who quit jobs exceeds that record. 

The pandemic does make some difference on people. The number of workers who quit their job in a single month broke an all-time U.S. record. Economists called it the “Great Resignation.” In July, even more people left their job. In August, quitters set yet another record and as a result, the Great Resignation becomes greater.  

Due to The Great Resignation, the exodus of workers has created hiring challenges for companies and left millions of jobs unfilled. 

More than half of U.S. workers surveyed said they plan to look for a new job in the coming year, according to Bankrate’s August job seeker survey. Some 56% of respondents said adjustable working hours and remote work are a priority.

Why do employees quit their jobs

The reason behind the quitting is complex and here we bring about some assumptions according to the people around us and the mainstream media.

Responsibility for families

Remote work gives employees chances to see how they can take care of the family at the same time work with efficiency. The majority need to take care of their kids as well as the elder and do housework. Work at home enables them to make the most of their time. And that is why they refuse the old working pattern and try to find a more flexible job. 

Find out what they want

“We were all able to take a step back in the last year and spend more time doing other things and really question the value of what we’re doing at work,” said Anthony Klotz, a management professor at Texas A&M University. “A number of people have made the decision, ‘I need to make a change.’” 

For most people, the pandemic gives them a break to pull them out of the busy routine and finally rethink what they want. 

Take a break

For some people, once they rest for a few days. They can not resist the temptation by having longer leisure time, especially for some parents that have many kids. According to the US government, U.S. families with children will get six monthly payments from the government $300 per child under 6 and $250 for every kid or teen who is 6 and up – on groceries, computers, child care, sneakers, or however else they see fit. And this amount of money might be the main source of some families.

Conclusion

No one knows what will happen after the pandemic. But we do worry about whether this Great Resignation trend will continue as it definitely will do harm to society.

As I once mentioned, the reason behind this is quite complex and for some of the employees who are unsatisfied with the wage, working hours or other conditions. Actually, the Great Resignation won’t uniformly change labor conditions. But because the factors driving resignations are so different, if changes do come, they’ll likely look different depending on the sector and the types of jobs.

One thing is bound to happen: there must be tremendous changes taking place in the workplace after the pandemic and we will talk about that in detail in the next blog.