The Great Resignation: Face it!

During 2021 the American job market has registered a record number of resignations. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 47 million workers have quit their jobs and this phenomenon has taken the name of Great Resignation.

However, the trend rapidly crossed the ocean and reached Europe, in particular, a similar boom in resignations has been identified in France and the United Kingdom.?

So what are the reasons that triggered the Great Resignation and which are the most influenced categories of workers??

Why do so many people quit their jobs?

Different professional analyses have been made during the last year to investigate what is pushing so many people in the US into resigning their jobs.?

These studies have spotted 3 top reasons: low salaries, low opportunities for advancement and the feeling of being disrespected at work.?

Antony Klotz, a professor of business administration at Texas A&M University who also invented the expression “Great Resignation”, had sensed the possibility of this trend in late 2020.?

There was already a backlog of people who wanted to leave their jobs from the previous years because they were questioning one or more of these 3 points.

Then the pandemic crysis joined the game and played a critical role in spreading the phenomenon.

Which categories are more involved by the Great Resignation?

A report by Visier has noticed that high-tech and healthcare are the most affected sectors. Even if the numbers are very high in the healthcare sector this increase can be easily explained. Since Covid-19 first appeared, people who work in this field like doctors and nurses have been asked to work exhausting amounts of hours, to have more job mobility and lived highly stressful situations while working in Covid departments.?

These are just some of the factors that brought a large percentage of healthcare workers to burnout.???

The greatest issue?

One thing is sure, this phenomenon it’s very different from previous high-turnover periods. Not only the data regarding the Great Resignation are high, but they should also be considered in the context of a world that is struggling to return to normality after a global pandemic.

While turnover isn’t necessarily a bad thing it becomes a threat for the organizations that don’t find a way to keep their best talents from leaving their position.?

What should organizations do to face the phenomenon?

Since the Great Resignation is expected to continue growing, at least for a couple of years, organizations should take action to prevent severe damage to their structure.?

A good starting point could be asking HR departments to assume an analytical approach to their data and using them to understand the main reasons why their talents would potentially quit their job. From this, the organizations could create specific measures to try to prevent resignations, like granting more benefits, flexibility etc.

However, this will not always be possible, and sooner or later any organization will face the necessity of searching and hiring new talents to replace those who leave.

For this reason, this could be the perfect time to invest in their Employer Branding! Since a lot of the reasons behind the phenomenon revolve around themes like flexibility, salary and benefits organizations need to highlight how much they care about these things.?

By doing so not only will the organizations have good chances not to be damaged too much by the high turnover, but they will also have the occasion to greatly increase their reputation in the job market.?

As the saying goes: make a virtue of necessity!???