What is the great resignation?

The great resignation, is a phenomenon coined by Anthony Klotz, a
university professor at the Mays Business School of Texas A&M
University.

It is a pattern of behaviour shared by many professionals who
decide to leave their jobs. The first cases were identified in spring
2021 in the United States.

Almost 4 million people left employment each month. The figure
reached 12 million between March and July. The annual tally
reached 50 million professionals who joined the great resignation.

How the great resignation came about

A phenomenon of this magnitude has prompted an urgent socio-
economic study of what has happened, in order to identify causes,
evolution and possible solutions to stop this drain of talent, which
in principle occurs for no apparent reason.

We now know that it stems from the aftermath of the COVID-19
pandemic. This great resignation began precisely with the return to
work of millions of people in the United States.

There are 3 factors that jointly affect personal psychology, which
may have prompted these professionals to leave their jobs: having
suffered the loss of acquaintances or family members to the virus; having experienced the disease at first hand; and having endured severe mobility restrictions for too long.

Returning to the same job, with the same pay and conditions, in an
overall economic situation that has also changed, brings feelings of
frustration, denial and rejection, prompting the professional to look
for a better job.

Why young people decide to quit their jobs

Young people have accounted for the largest number of career
leavers during this time. There are two clear reasons for this. The
first is in quantitative terms.

Young people have had the most restrictions on mobility
associated with them, both directly (due to confinement) and
indirectly (due to the closure of nightlife and other venues where
young people are the main users or customers).

The second key reason is salary, since a young professional, due to
lack of experience and occupying a lower level job, receives a lower
salary than other colleagues with more experience and
responsibilities.

In this situation, it is young people who have clearly perceived
working and economic conditions that they have rejected in order
to look for a better job. Age also motivates people to venture into
other jobs, a decision that may be taken more cautiously by people
with a longer employment history.

How to stop the big resignation

The after-effects of the pandemic are inevitably present
throughout society, so in order to curb the large-scale resignation
or resignation, we need to act directly on working conditions.
Of course, action on pay is necessary to make employee loyalty
more attractive, but it is not the only factor to be taken into
account today. Without the right conditions, it will continue to be a
negative experience for the employee, who will be increasingly
motivated to resign.

A good working climate, flexible working hours and work-life
balance are already essential elements for a job to have positive
connotations for the staff.

In addition, at Benefit Brokers  we also promote physical and
emotional wellbeing programmes to promote a healthier lifestyle in
the company, which have been proven to generate greater
wellbeing in employees.

The great resignation in Spain

Like so many social, economic and cultural phenomena, what has
happened in the United States has been viewed with concern in
Europe and, specifically, in Spain. Could the same thing happen in
our country?

Obviously, it is not possible to extrapolate exactly what happens
between American professionals and the Spanish population.
Factors such as population density, economic well-being and
employment conditions are different on many levels.
However, it did not take long for the great resignation to be
replicated in other countries around the world. In Europe, it was
first identified in Germany. A worrying development because in this
region the vaccination campaign was considered a success, the
return to work and the new social normality was anticipated
compared to other countries and has always been characterised
by low unemployment rates.

Set by step, the great resignation has been spreading and in Spain
its first symptoms are beginning to be felt. In the first half of 2022,
historical records have already been reached in terms of
professionals who have left their current job.

The economic situation, inflation, working conditions that have not
evolved and all the after-effects that have also been suffered here
due to the pandemic, concentrate an accumulation of reasons that
professionals argue for being demotivated about their jobs.
It is now more important than ever to implement occupational
wellbeing measures at work if we do not want our workforce to join
this global phenomenon.