The "great resignation" or is it?

I came across this video which is one of many commentaries on the employment market in the US and Australia. I think this video is great but for?the Australian market I think its too simplistic and also makes me ask the question -

But what has changed?

In this video they talk about the great resignation because;

Work culture is not good

No work/life balance

Lacking flexibility

People are attracted to a company's purpose where people are recognised for the work they do

But what has changed, the above has always existed or been just as important to people for decades, yet now they talk about the great resignation because of these things?

For most of the roles we are working on it is because of an increase in needs/volumes, newly created roles, growth, yes some of the roles are to fill gaps because people are obtaining better roles or moving from temp to permanent but that’s always been around. We are busier that’s for sure, but I honestly would like to explore this more and continue to monitor, ask questions, look at surveys, talk to our networks because I really believe this is nothing new and something else has changed.

There are some easy answers for skills shortages in certain industries such as the medical industry and hospitality and that it is because they just don’t have enough students coming through the program/training to meet the demands or backfill and cover for retirement and the increased demands of their industries.

In the industries we specialise in such as accounting, finance, customer support, analytics and logistics I believe that if the processing of visa applications was more efficient and granting international students/skilled workers with their permanent residency was expedited we would fix a lot of the issues, so red tape is in part to blame but this has always been an issue and yes Covid has exacerbated this.

If a celebrity, hatted chef has to close three days a week despite paying sign on bonuses and wages well above award rates and the unemployment rate is sitting at 3.5% with a rising participation rate of 66.8% - you have to think that supply is a massive problem in our employment market which is coupled with a growing emphasis on workplace culture and work life balance due to covid lockdowns and the shift in our population from Baby Boomers to Millennials. I am glad that workplaces are changing and must to attract and keep their people, however I know business is struggling to find their people and something has to change to improve this, not simply the workplace.

https://www.adweek.com/creativity/short-film-the-resignation-sends-a-wake-up-call-to-employers-about-the-future-of-work/