The Great Resignation following the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has resulted in millions of Americans and Europeans quitting their job. However, the United States has seen the greatest impact of the phenomenon regarding the number of employees quitting their job.
A large number of American quitting their jobs has permanently changed the employment landscape of the country. While businesses, big and small, quickly adapted to the situation and resulted in taking up new jobs by those quitting, the number of those quitting has stayed steady month after month.
The Great Resignation to the Great Rehire
The lack of workforce has resulted in many US organisations changing their rehiring policies. Previously, most companies didn’t rehire the employees who quit them once. But in 2022, companies offer better pay and benefits to rehired employees.
The lack of workers has forced companies to drop their old policies and take extreme measures to get talented and experienced workers back on board.
The Cost of Hiring and Retaining
The Great Resignation has made companies realize the cost of hiring. Before the Great Resignation, companies had a surplus of potential candidates. Hence, they made little to no effort to retain employees. They knew they could have equally if not more talented candidate fills the vacant position within a few days who would accept the position at the offer they made.
The Great Resignation has driven away all potential candidates and negatively impacted the cost of hiring and rehiring. The lack aside, the demands of potential candidates have made it cheaper for companies to retain talent.
Hence, for the first time, organizations are focused on retaining existing employees rather than hiring new ones. Organizations are willing to offer all kinds of employee benefits to retain their employees. Some of the most popular employee benefits include remote and hybrid work options, flexible work hours, renovated office spaces, in-house daycare for employees with kids, paid time off, sick leaves, 4-day work week, and commission. Organizations are also offering improved health benefits with mental health benefits included.
However, despite companies offering the above (and other) employee benefits, the Great Resignation continues.
When Will the Great Resignation End?
The Great Resignation wasn’t the only factor in the past two years that prompted people to quit their jobs. The covid-19 pandemic resulted in the shutting down of several businesses. The pandemic equally changed the employment landscape by favoring certain industries over others.
In the beginning, many organizational leaders tried to reverse the Great Resignation. But they failed for their short-sightedness. The Great Resignation has created many new opportunities in industries that not only survived but thrived during the pandemic. Many who quit their jobs became entrepreneurs by starting their businesses. These businesses, along with digital and IT industries, present opportunities for workers who are ready for the change.
However, there is still a lack of jobs that workers will face whenever they are ready to join the workforce again.
