The real reason everyone is quitting their jobs right now – By Yasmon Tayag (Fortune) / Sept 7 2021
The Great Resignation has taken many by surprise: Nearly two-thirds of U.S. workers are looking for a new job. But according to some HR and management studies, we probably could have predicted this would happen. Over decades, researchers have revealed turnover patterns that can explain why many are quitting in droves right now. Employers looking to stop the exodus should pay attention: Much of the onus is on them to give workers better reasons to stay.
Research has shown that people tend to quit their jobs after experiencing a “turnover shock”: a life event that precipitates self-reflection about one’s job satisfaction. Shocks can be positive, like grad school acceptance or a new baby, or negative, like a divorce or sick relative. Or they can be global catastrophes like COVID-19 that upend every aspect of daily life.
The universal nature of the pandemic is a major reason so many are quitting at once. “Most people don’t evaluate their job satisfaction every one of 365 days in a year,” said Brooks Holtom, a professor of management and senior associate dean at Georgetown University. “Those shocks usually happen idiosyncratically for people. But with the pandemic, it’s happened en masse.”
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