What Is The Great US Resignation?
Business
Call it The Great Resignation, The Great Reshuffle or Workers’ Revolution, this phenomena of millions of people quitting their jobs is set to change the work culture dynamics of the entire world. Think it is one of the silver linings of the Covid-19 pandemic? Well, only time will tell. Till then, read the story to find out what is this phase about.
Crux of the Matter
What Is Going On In US?
4.3 million Americans (~3% of working population) quit their jobs in Aug ‘21 alone. 20 million have quit their jobs since April ‘21 while 10 million jobs are currently open in the US.
Why Are Workers Quitting?
What Are People Doing?
Freelance work and having more freedom and flexibility.
Upskilling themselves and pursuing higher education.
Turning hobby into earning means.
Started trading: 106 million people were trading in crypto worldwide as of Feb ‘21.
Established startups: Even India added 1,600 tech startups in 2020. Since 2021, 33 startups have entered the unicorn club.
As per a Linkedin survey, by Sep’21, there was a staggering 54% rise in people changing their jobs in their LinkedIn profiles.
Why The Shift?
Many reports cite people realizing the shortness of their lives due to the Covid-19 pandemic as one of the reasons. Consequently, they are seeking better work-life balance while being conscious if their work and their values are aligning. Such phenomenon has also been observed in countries across the world.
OECD: 20 million workers have not returned to work after the pandemic.
In India, attrition rate in tech sector is around 23%, while in China, there is shortage of workers in tech sector.
Overall, 41% of employees worldwide want to quit their job this year.
Curiopedia
South Africa has the highest unemployment rate in the world at 28.5%. It is followed by Occupied Palestinian Territories and Lesotho in the list.