The Great Resignation Could Be Our Great Renewal

There has been lots of talk recently about a fascinating trend; one so big it’s even got its own Wikipedia page. ‘The Great Resignation ’ represents one of the biggest shifts to the workplace in modern history. Personally, I view it as a huge opportunity: an opportunity to renew working norms.

The term was coined by professor Anthony Klotz to describe the current trend of mass resignation of employees from their workforce, which was sparked by the COVID19 pandemic. Put simply, more people than ever are quitting their jobs.

But looking at it more deeply, the fact is that the employee - employer relationship is resetting itself.

A recent UK survey of 6,000 employees by recruitment company Randstad UK showed that as many as 1 in 4 people are planning to quit their jobs in the next 3 months. That’s double the usual rate. In America, it’s much higher, as evidenced by this Microsoft survey .

But why? In broad terms, there are two main outlooks we can attribute this to.

Firstly, there’s the ‘top down’ outlook, which is from the employer’s perspective. Employers have, reassuringly, realised they need to up their game. The old style of employment - rigid hours, fixed locations, lack of focus on wellbeing - is unsustainable, and that has been highlighted by the huge shift to remote work during the pandemic. We’ve entered a new era of work, and workplaces need to evolve.

The second view is the ‘bottom up’ outlook. People have had the opportunity to reassess their lives during COVID. ‘Can I make impactful decisions to improve my quality of living? Can I create a new life for myself which prioritises my wellbeing rather than being ‘tied down’ to my workplace?’

These are the kinds of questions people have increasingly been asking themselves. In many cases, the answer has been yes.

These glaringly obvious trends show a disconnect - but rather than stopping at the Great Resignation’, I believe we can see this as an opportunity: ‘The Great Renewal’.

On a micro level, we can all play a part in this new relationship between employers and employees, which is exactly what we’re trying to do at YuLife. This is achieved by prioritising wellbeing, enabling flexible working, thinking about benefits in a whole new way and creating a culture that serves the people rather than themselves.

In turn, employees are able to prioritise their lives, meaning their life includes work but is not dictated by it.

These shifting attitudes also feed directly into what we’re doing with our product, by helping companies create the aforementioned culture in their own organisations, which gets the best out of their employees and inspires people to live their best lives. We’re empowering companies to create this hub of wellbeing within their workforce.

We can all be a part of a movement to make the world a better place.