The Great Resignation – What Exactly it Refers To?
The Great Resignation is the key term coined for millions of Americans quitting jobs amid a global pandemic. However, the pandemic could be one of the many reasons that have brought about this evolution in the US job market.
The Factors At Work
This job quitting altogether does not come with the covid scare – it also has to do with;
- An increase in the entrepreneurial spirit
- Early retirements
- Better job opportunities
- Childcare related reasons
- Layoffs in the job market during the pandemic
- Health insecurity
- Domestic disruptions caused by the pandemic
- People moving to other places in search of change
Here are some statistics as to why the above factors may have been lending a hand in the great resignation.
An Improvement In The Entrepreneurial Spirit
About 16% of the adult workforce makes up the entrepreneur circle in the US. According to statistics reported by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 31 million people in the US are entrepreneurs. These numbers also suggest that the entrepreneurs in every industry comprise a diverse set of people. Moreover, seventeen percent of the business owners are immigrants.
This happens to be one of the reasons for the great resignation. This implies that people are not quitting the workforce entirely, but moving on to better opportunities.
Early Retirements
America has experienced a rise in early retirements, especially among people of ages above 55. It might not be surprising at all, since the retirement age is around 60. However, amidst a global pandemic, the retirement statistics 2021 have hit a new high. The Pew Research Center suggests that in the third quarter of 2021, 50.3 percent of the older people were out of the labor force due to retirement.
Where the baby boomers are now near receiving the social security age, the rate at which people are opting for retirement is much greater. From a million a year, it has grown to a dramatic 4.5 million in the past two years.
Better Job Opportunities
It might come off as bizarre as to why the headlines suggest that fewer jobs than estimated have been added to the job market. The statistics provided by the labor department suggest that for the 6.9 million unemployed people in the US, there are 10.6 million job opportunities. So, why is it that the great resignation 2021 has seen a surge in quits? The availability of better job opportunities might have driven this rise since the labor force is always in search of better work options.
Childcare Related Reasons
Amidst a global pandemic and now with the rise of the omicron variant, childcare has become a sensitive topic. People are not willing to risk their children’s health while they are busy with 9 to 5 jobs. Moreover, this has also driven a work-from-home trend where people, especially working parents, work from the comfort of their homes while they can take care of their children.
Related: Top 10 Home-Based Business Ideas for Moms Now
Layoffs In The Job Market During The Pandemic
When the COVID-19 hit, employers were laying off employees for reasons related to financial downfall and risk factors related to health. This has created a huge and confusing trend in the job market. While resignations and layoffs were at their peak, people could not do anything about it due to health risks. Now that the health-related risks are under control, people are not willing to return to workplaces. It could be because of three main reasons;
- Employers are not offering enough incentives to the workforce
- Employees have come to realize the worth of creating working conditions for themselves around a comfortable schedule
- Employees are unwilling to let of the social security and unemployment benefits they received during the COVID-19 surge
Where there could be various other reasons, the now spreading Omicron Variant has yet to affect the population at a large scale. It could either be that it is controlled, or that it controls how, when, and where people work and spend their time.
Health Insecurity
Health insecurity, especially among the age groups more exposed to the risks, has also been a major factor driving the great resignation. The conditions that were looming over the head of people globally are all related to health risks – that have now led to drastic conditions in the global economic and financial outlook.
Domestic Disruptions Caused By The Pandemic
Domestic disruptions caused by the pandemic have had a devastating impact on households on a global scale. With lifestyle being subject to a huge change in a matter of days, mental issues were at a surge. With an overflow of deaths and people falling prey to the disease, people were disturbed at the very core of the social fabric.
Thus, layoffs, health risks, and many other factors have led to being a driver of the great resignation of 2021. People not only had to resign to take care of their loved ones but also because the psychological impacts of it were unbearable.
People Are Moving To Other Places
It is not just that the workforce is sitting at home idly by. It is more complex than that. People who are looking for new opportunities are also looking for a better lifestyle. The definition of change differs for everyone, and people are shifting entire households in search of the change that they require.
What Do People Hiring Think About The Great Resignation 2021?
CBS News conducted interviews with leading professionals and people in business. The people commenting on why the big quit is taking place included the Chief Economist of LinkedIn, Kim Kimbrough. She said that the pandemic has provided the people with quality time to reflect upon what they are doing in life, and how could their life be better.
According to the statistics viewed across the professional platform, people quitting jobs has been higher than ever – which is huge.
The major sectors which seen employees quitting jobs are;
- The retails sector
- The hospitality sector
Kimbrough suggested that the people in the US with jobs are probably burnt out from a lifetime of working. Now that they have experienced what can happen in a matter of days, they are more concerned about living life rather than spending it making a living.
The job openings across the hospitality sectors in restaurants and hotels are huge. The number comes around to 9%, which means the industry has immense potential for hirings. Carl Sobocinski, who is the founder of Table 301 Restaurant Group, commented on the big quit saying that the industry has job openings and it needs employees.
Sobocinski further added that people are simply not looking for jobs.
The Founder of the JCC General Contractors, James Jordon, says that it is becoming difficult to find employees. The construction industry has job openings nationwide, yet people are not applying for the jobs. He also added that the problem is not that these industries are lacking work or revenue – it is simply that there is a shortage of workers.
People in the workforce are opting to gain newer experiences. After 2 years of complete closure and isolation, people are willing to try new things as part of giving back to their lives. Some find peace in smaller places, with low-maintenance homes that do not cost too much. While others prefer taking life into the hustle and bustle of the cities. It is all about new experiences.
Humankind always looks for better opportunities – it includes everything from an improved lifestyle to an improved job. And the definition of ‘better’ varies from individual to individual. It is not something that can be assigned as a single value to a group of people, because it is more complex than that.
With finding more flexibility in their schedules and keeping a healthy work-life balance, people have now become more demanding. This is right, considering how work takes up a huge chunk of an individual’s time. Employers simply have to consider what employees want, since the pen is in the employee’s hands.
What Role Could The Omicron Variant Possibly Play?
After a few months of partial relief from the COVID-19 restrictions, the Omicron has hit several regions across the globe. Having suffered, and still suffering, from the great resignation employers with millions of job openings are worried about finding ways to retain employees.
After a surge in resignations, employers across the US must be prepared to deal with upcoming situations with better policies. However, how the Omicron Variant will impact the job market is yet to be witnessed. The variant has been flagged as the ‘variant of concern’ by the World Health Organization, and it may impact the economy worse than the previous variants.
Moreover, most of it also depends upon how and when the vaccines are improved upon, along with strategies for damage control.
Conclusion
The big transformation and the great resignation in the job market are subject to many factors. However, it did hike up to a recognizable pace after the pandemic hit. It could either be controlled in the future or go out of hand – since there is no way back from the realizations and preferences that people have faced.
With the increasing cases of the Omicron Variant, it is going to take a whole lot of work for employees to get used to people working from home with their own conditions. Moreover, it’d take twice as much time for people who quit jobs to go back to a pre-pandemic work lifestyle.
