There’s a good possibility that you contemplated quitting your job after Covid struck. This is not a personal viewpoint. Experts in the US have begun to refer to this trend of more individuals quitting their professions as “The Great Resignation.”
What is The Great Resignation
The Great Resignation is the event where many people quit their jobs and companies to pursue their dreams.
The relevance of other people in our lives has impacted most individuals in the previous two years. Employees recognized that there are more important things than a job after witnessing the loss of many loved ones and the ability to spend more time with our children while working remotely.
Professor Anthony Klotz of Texas A&M University introduced the concept of the Great Resignation, forecasting a high number of individuals quitting their professions after the Covid pandemic is over, and society returns to “normal.” However, even in the middle of the pandemic, more than 19 million Americans have quit their jobs between April and September of 2021. And not all industries are affected in the same manner. Most of those who have quit are in their forties and work in tech or health care.
The Great Resignation has to do with support
If the CIBC Capital Markets analysis on Canadian resignations proves anything, it is that workers with less job stability, less support, fewer perks, and lower earnings are more likely to quit.
The report explains that “Canada provided more of its overall pandemic-related business support through generous wage subsidies, which incented employers to keep workers on the job even when their overall output was minimal”.
In Canada, we see more of a Great Reshuffle than a Great Resignation. And, with the recovery of the US economy, that may happen there as well. It’s feasible to claim that abandoning your work during a pandemic is just temporary, but seeking greater pay and benefits is not.
First and foremost, employees decide to quit based on how their employers handled them throughout the epidemic — or did not treat them. Workers eventually chose to stay at companies that provided support over those that did not.
Workers who may have been on the verge of abandoning their jobs due to a bad business culture before the pandemic were pushed to the breaking point.
The solution is going global
With the prospect of quitting your job morphing into a career change, company owners must understand that they must remain competitive not just for their clients but also for their staff.
Continuing to rely on remote work may not be so bad when you consider that people from all over the world may have the necessary skillsets for the job.
For virtual assignments, there is the need to ensure that the employee is not worse off than if they were performing the role from home. This means companies in countries like Canada will be able to offer more competitive pay for international workers.