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The Great Resignation
Covid-19 significantly changed all aspects of life. The outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic resulted in the loss of human lives worldwide, the loss of livelihoods, the introduction of restrictions on social gathering and movement, and the closure of schools. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures imposed to protect the public from the continued spread of the disease revealed how powerless humans are against nature and death. This modern-day apocalypse crippled life as people knew it and showed the need to reevaluate what is important and adapt accordingly. At the onset of the pandemic, the nation witnessed mass layoffs and higher levels of uncertainty in the job market. One of the ripple effects of the job market uncertainty witnessed in 2020 was professionals reevaluating their careers and subsequently leaving their jobs in high numbers. Resignation rates in 2021 were among the highest recorded in decades. The great resignation is an economic trend that highlights the world’s new normal.
Lisa Rowen’s Forbes article “Everything Else Became Secondary: The Real Reasons People Are Changing Careers During the Pandemic” explores reasons professionals chose to leave their jobs. Based on her article, Lisa Rowen highlights burnout and dissatisfaction, pandemic flexibility, and increased inflation rates as the motivations behind mass resignations (Rowan). Before the pandemic, a significant percentage of professionals felt disrespected at their workplaces and had lost focus and passion for their jobs resulting in job dissatisfaction and burnout. The article highlights the case of a teacher who felt that her job had become more about test scores and paperwork than children’s education. However, the pandemic forced people to work from home, encouraging the reevaluation of priorities. As a result, employers who wanted their employees to return to the office faced backlash as most people felt it was a waste of time and resources to commute to and from work. Therefore, the restrictions on movement and gathering during the pandemic helped people create a sense of balance that most professionals had lost before the pandemic.
The pandemic also highlighted the importance of flexibility over salary. Though most people were forced to work from home, they could get their work done as they decided on when to work. Post pandemic, most professionals were not willing to lose the freedom to choose when and where they could work. Therefore, companies that forced their employees to return to the office experienced high numbers of resignations. Lastly, high inflation levels also acted as a catalyst for people to resign from their jobs. Before the pandemic, most people were ignorant of how much they had to stretch their salaries. The pandemic showed most people that their sallies could not cover all their needs and prompted them to make job changes to companies and positions that would provide them with increased pay.
I agree with Lisa Rowen’s take on the motivations behind the “The Great Resignation.” I agree with Rowen’s take on the importance of flexibility to employees. The pandemic forced employees to work from the comforts of their homes, resulting in a newly developed sense of freedom and flexibility. After the pandemic, most employees were unwilling to go back to a system that takes away these perks resulting in the high rates of resignation. For instance, the service industry faced high rates of employee resignation due to the nature of this business. This industry requires proximity of time and location as employees are expected to work in specific locations and at specified periods (Chugh). During the onset of the pandemic, employees in most service-oriented businesses experienced mass layoffs, and they were forced to explore alternative opportunities that would provide them with income. After the pandemic, businesses in this industry tried to rehire their employees; however, most chose not to return. Their previous positions did not offer them the time and location independence they had grown accustomed to when working from home. Also, working from home allowed people to develop better work-life balance, a perk that was difficult to achieve prior to the pandemic.
Increased inflation and job dissatisfaction were catalysts for the mass resignations witnessed. The pandemic forced people to reevaluate their lives and priorities, resulting in a large of individuals that want to improve the quality of their lives by moving to jobs with better pay or better work environments. The mass resignations witnessed included professionals looking for jobs with better opportunities and low-wage workers looking to move from unhealthy work environments to more suitable work environments (Wake). For instance, there are numerous videos online of restaurant and food chain employees being assaulted by clients for no apparent. As a result, most low-wage workers working in these toxic environments have opted to look for jobs that offer better working environments and pay.
The great resignation is a unique economic trend caused by the pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic changed the world as we know it resulting in a society that prioritizes health and wellbeing. The great resignation witnessed in 2021 is proof of the world’s current changes. It shows that people are more interested in working in environments that offer flexibility, job satisfaction, and better pay and work environments.
Works Cited
Chugh, A. “What is ‘The Great Resignation’? An expert explains.” World Economic Forum. Vol. 21. 2021.
Rowan, Lisa. “‘Everything Else Became Secondary’: The Real Reasons People Are Changing Careers during the pandemic.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 14 Apr. 2022,https://www.forbes.com/advisor/personal-finance/changing-careers-the-great-resignation/.
Wake, Dena. “The Great Resignation and its impacts on American workplace traditions and overall future.” (2022).
