The number of Americans quitting their jobs has hit record highs over the past several months in a phenomenon economists have been calling the “Great Resignation.” In August, 4.3 million U.S. workers — almost 3 percent of the entire American workforce — voluntarily left their positions, the highest number since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking “quits” in 2020.
Workers are quitting at high rates in every industry, but the trend has been especially pronounced for frontline businesses like restaurants, hotels, retail stores and health care providers. Recent quit rates are a stark contrast to early in the coronavirus pandemic, when the number of quits plummeted to the lowest levels in a decade, as COVID-related business closures put millions of Americans out of work.
“Frontline workers in health care, child care, hospitality and food service industries, pushed to the brink of human endurance, decide that the grueling hours, inadequate pay, lack of balance and abuse by employers and clientele are no longer acceptable trade-offs for their mental and physical well-being.” — Karla L. Miller, Washington Post
The pandemic accelerated a generational shift in attitudes toward work
“The Great Resignation is not a mad dash away from the office; it’s the culmination of a long march toward freedom. More than a decade ago, psychologists documented a generational shift in the centrality of work in our lives. Millennials were more interested in jobs that provided leisure time and vacation time than Gen Xers and baby boomers. They were less concerned about net worth than net freedom.” — Adam Grant, Wall Street Journal
The number of Americans quitting their jobs has hit record highs over the
past several months in a phenomenon economists have been calling the “Great Resignation.” In August, 4.3 million U.S. workers — almost 3 percent of
the entire American workforce — voluntarily left their positions, the
highest number since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking “quits” in 2020.
Workers are quitting at high rates in every industry, but the trend has been especially pronounced for frontline businesses like restaurants, hotels,
retail stores and health care providers. Recent quit rates are a stark
contrast to early in the coronavirus pandemic, when the number of quits
plummeted to the lowest levels in a decade, as COVID-related business
closures put millions of Americans out of work.
Frontline workers are fed up
“Frontline workers in health care, child care, hospitality and food service industries, pushed to the brink of human endurance, decide that the
grueling hours, inadequate pay, lack of balance and abuse by employers and
clientele are no longer acceptable trade-offs for their mental and physical well-being.” — Karla L. Miller, Washington Post
The pandemic accelerated a generational shift in attitudes toward work
“The Great Resignation is not a mad dash away from the office; it’s the
culmination of a long march toward freedom. More than a decade ago,
psychologists documented a generational shift in the centrality of work in
our lives. Millennials were more interested in jobs that provided leisure
time and vacation time than Gen Xers and baby boomers. They were less
concerned about net worth than net freedom.” — Adam Grant, Wall Street
Journal