Why is everyone quitting their job?
The year 2021 wearily stepped out the door and a tentative 2022 entered.
Workers have been eyeing this new year, wondering what it will bring, especially after the seismic shifts the previous one delivered.
News reports are abuzz with one of the biggest trends that 2021 produced: Everyone is quitting their job.
More Americans left the workplace:
- Baby boomers retired early
- Employees were laid off from COVID-impacted businesses
- The younger generation walked away from low-wage entry-level jobs.
There are a million different reasons why this whole shift transpired in the space of a single year.
Here are important insights:
Reshuffling is Empowering
Workers across the U.S. have realized that there are options open.
With opportunity comes pay increases, better benefits, and more importantly, a chance at working at a company that offers more in terms of a workplace culture.
Reshuffling has happened because people have realized:
- Their current employer is not the only game in town
- Each person has value
- That value can be recognized at a different company.
What it boils down to is that people are tired of being worked to death, not valued, and not compensated fairly.
During the “Great Recession” in 2008-2009, many companies downsized to create lean staffing levels.
This often meant dumping multiple roles onto a single individual.
This was and never will be sustainable.
Why is everyone quitting their job?
The answer is clear:
Companies Sacrificed Their Talent
They have done this by making them workhorses straining under the load of 3x to 5x the normal tasks for that position.
The end result has been a demoralized culture of burnout, dissatisfaction, and disgust.
To quote a line from the famous Twisted Sister anthem, “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” employees have finally realized that they indeed have power.
They are now rising up to reach for jobs that give them better pay, recognition, value, and support.
Why is everyone quitting their job?
Job seekers are now more empowered to make changes, and change they are making.
Discovering What is Truly Important
The pandemic has also pushed a greater percentage of people into remote work.
As a result, people have realized that they can get the same amount of work done without the mind-numbing commutes they have been enduring.
Instead of sitting in traffic, commutes are 30 seconds from the kitchen to the home office, with a mug of hot coffee in hand.
More time has allowed people to re-evaluate what is important in their lives.
This includes how much value the work is giving them (beyond pay and recognition).
Because they are now focusing on self-care, avoiding career burnout, and having more autonomy over their time, employees have a new sense of what is truly important in life.
What is another reason why is everyone quitting their job?
The Pandemic as the Great Equalizer
Workers now are finally discovering what executives have been enjoying for a long time: better empowerment and choice in where and how they work.
Company executives have been surprised and shocked out of complacency when confronted with this reality.
And this is changing the traditional work structure and reshaping how we work now and into the future.
Why is everyone quitting their job?
With job seekers clear on their value proposition and how they are marketable, this changes the power dynamic from the company.
Changing the Power Dynamic
Because businesses are no longer holding the upper hand to the worker; employees are now making better choices that fit their desired work environment.
It is critical that company leaders take heed.
Employees are watching them and will vote with their feet if the employer isn’t willing to flex enough to retain them.
Why everyone is quitting their job really boils down to one point:
If bosses and company owners truly want productive work environments, they need to recognize the people that work for them and give them what they need.
They can no longer cling to an antiquated structure that squeezes the life out of their workers.