More than 4 million people have quit their jobs every month in the US so far this year — and new research shows the record-breaking trend isn’t stopping anytime soon.
About 40% of US workers are considering quitting their current jobs in the next 3-6 months, according to a report released last week by McKinsey & Co. that surveyed 6,294 Americans between February and April.
“This is not just a passing trend or a pandemic-driven change in the labor market,” says Bonnie Dowling, one of the report’s authors, of the increased dropout rates. “There has been a sea change in the mentality of workers and their willingness to prioritize other things in their lives beyond the job they hold… we will never go back to what 2019 was.”
Such conversations about “The Great Resignation” often focus on why people quit—low pay, few advancement opportunities, an inflexible work schedule—but what we hear less often is what happens after people leave their jobs.
McKinsey and company also spoke to more than 2,800 people in six countries – the US, Australia, Canada, Singapore, India and the UK – who have left their full-time jobs over the past two years to find out where workers are going.
Almost half of the graduates change industry
About 48% of people who quit have pursued new opportunities across industries, according to the report.
Dowling points to two factors driving this exodus: pandemic-related burnout and better opportunities to secure a higher-paying job in a tight job market.
“Many people have realized during the pandemic how volatile or uncertain their industry has been, particularly those working on the front lines,” says Dowling.
At the same time, companies are still struggling to attract and retain employees — a pattern that has no doubt caused many headaches for HR departments in the US, but has also opened the door for job seekers to take advantage of new opportunities that were unattainable before the pandemic.
“More employers have opened their doors to fill the yawning talent gap they face,” adds Dowling. “They prioritize skills over educational background or prior work experience, creating more opportunities for job seekers across industries.”
Some industries are shedding talent faster than others: more than 70% of workers who left their jobs in consumer goods/retail and finance/insurance either changed industries or left the job market altogether, compared to 54% of workers in healthcare and in education who did such a switch.
Others quit to start their own business or go into non-traditional employment
Of those who quit without finding a new job, nearly half (47%) chose to return to the labor market – but only 29% returned to a traditional full-time job, the report finds. These percentages are from a March McKinsey & Co. survey of 600 US workers who voluntarily left a job with no pending new one.
The remaining 18% of people either found a new job with reduced hours through casual, gig or part-time work, or decided to start their own business.
“People don’t tolerate toxic bosses and toxic cultures anymore because they can go and find other ways to make money without getting into a negative situation,” says Dowling. “With our enhanced connectivity, there are now more job opportunities than ever before.”
More and more people are choosing to be their own bosses: Over the course of the pandemic, new business applications grew more than 30%, with nearly 5.4 million new applications in 2021 alone, the White House said in an April news release.
It’s not just about escaping a toxic work environment, either. Such unconventional pursuits also fulfill people’s growing desire for flexibility. The freedom to work from anywhere or choose your own hours has become the most coveted benefit during the pandemic – so much so that people value flexibility as much as a 10% pay rise research from the WFH research project.
The quick cessation could last into 2022 unless companies make “meaningful” changes
Even with a possible recession on the horizon, Dowling believes people will continue to quit and switch jobs at high rates in the coming months.
Much of the trend has been driven by a “drastic” change in social norms surrounding quitting. “For a long time you didn’t leave a job until you had a new one – everyone was taught that and that’s what people did,” she says. “But that’s changed so dramatically in the last 18 months … now the attitude of people is, ‘I’m confident there’s going to be something for me if I want to work.'”
Rather than bemoaning the ongoing labor shortage, companies should look to the changing US economy as an opportunity to transform the way we work and build a better model, says Dowling.
“It’s about everything from embedding flexibility in our credo to reassessing how we value our people and providing them with the resources they need to do their jobs… all employers have the ability to make these meaningful changes.” , she adds. “But we need to start taking action, rather than sitting back and hoping things will return to a ‘pre-pandemic norm’ – because all indications are that that won’t be the case.”
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