Is the Great Resignation (Finally) Cooling Off?
Is the Great Resignation (Finally) Cooling Off?
For the past two years, the media has been abuzz about “The Great Resignation.” Business news sources have breathlessly reported how workers have quit corporate jobs en masse to seek more meaningful work, founded start-ups, or simply enjoyed an early retirement. As recently as March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported more than 4.4 million people quit their jobs the previous month, continuing a trend going back to the pandemic’s start.
But, if recent reports are to be believed, this movement may be cooling, if not actually reversing. The New York Times, Barrons, Esquire, The Guardian, and many other major outlets have recently run stories about workers who, having had their fill of autonomy, are now eagerly returning to the workplace. Principal reasons for this apparent reversal include economic necessity, a desire for social contact and comradery, and yes, simple boredom. (Intriguingly, these reasons appear to be as relevant for Baby Boomers as they are the newly emergent Generation Z.)
Personal observations appear to confirm this phenomenon. In recent weeks, my clients with large workforces tell me they are receiving more resumes for each job offering they post than they had in previous months. They are cautiously optimistic about the Great Resignation slowing down.
When considering this trend and what it means to business leaders, there are two important things to consider:
As many analysts have pointed out, what the media calls The Great Resignation should probably be called The Great Re-Shuffle. This is because most of the workers who quit don’t actually leave the workforce but move to other jobs that are more to their liking.
This Great Resignation/Great Re-Shuffle has significantly changed the employer/employee contract, and it’s not going back to pre-COVID conditions any time soon—if ever.
With more than 11 million job openings in the U.S. and the unemployment rate well under 4 percent (the rate most economists consider full employment), workers are decidedly in the proverbial driver’s seat. They are demanding a say in how, when, and where they work. And wise employers are not only listening but taking steps to satisfy their employees’ desires regarding work and culture.
If you are a business leader, here are the steps you must take to attract and keep quality people in the 2020s:
1. Start by getting pay right. In the years following the Great Recession of 2008-09, with the national unemployment rate peaking at 10 percent, employers found themselves in the enviable position of being able to “race to the bottom” when it came to setting worker salaries. But “You’re lucky to have a job” is no longer a tenable stance. In fact, in 2022 it’s as obsolete as DVDs and Myspace. Today, the floor on competitive pay is above legislated minimum wage, even for unskilled workers. For example, in Southern California, the big-box retailer Target is advertising starting salaries of $24.00 per hour for some jobs, compared to the state’s $15.00 minimum wage. And online retailing giant Amazon is advertising seasonal positions with an average pay of $18.00 per hour, with an extra $3.00 for some shifts and locations, plus sign-on bonuses of up to $3,000.
Salaries are up—and they’re not going back down.
2. Listen to Your People. Do you want to know how to keep your workers from bolting to other companies? It’s easy. Just ask them. Talk to your employees regularly about working conditions, hours, schedules, pay, etc. No, you can’t be a genie that grants every wish, but you should make a true effort to accommodate reasonable requests. Why? Because people prefer to work where they like to work. And in a labor market like the one we have now, if you don’t try to make your people happy, you can bet someone else will.
But worker retention is only one reason to listen to what your workers have to say. The other chief reason is output quality. When employees are happy, they tend to be more engaged with what they’re doing. When they care about their job, they tend to be better at it. They work harder. They work longer. They don’t let mistakes slide. They come up with new ideas and innovative solutions. They take pride in what they’re doing, and that’s reflected in their performance—and in how your company is viewed by its customers.
3. Make work as human as possible. Workers are not machines that can be powered-up and expected to perform predictably hour after hour, day after day. Work is just one part of their larger lives. They have families. They have outside interests. They have their own hopes and dreams.
While certain aspects of a company’s operations must be systematized, there’s a key difference between systematic and dogmatic. As the accommodations that were forced on companies during the COVID-19 lockdowns showed, many companies can be very creative and flexible about working hours, remote working, in-person meetings, etc., without negatively impacting productivity or profitability. Many companies discovered operations actually ran better when people weren’t forced into offices for eight to 10 hours a day, as they were pre-pandemic.
Remember that every worker is a complete individual. Every employee is more than just a particular skillset to be applied to a specific task. Your workplace must better reflect the needs and opportunities of the vast human experience. Give your people opportunities to learn, to grow or, when necessary, to step away and recharge as needed. Let them bring their passions, their imaginations, and their creativity into the workplace. In the end, your bottom line is apt to be better for it.
For help with making your workplace a Go-To destination for workers, contact me at laura@conoverconsulting.com. My own experienced, dedicated and, yes, impassioned team of corporate culture and compensation experts is ready to put its talent to work for you.