People aren't ready to quit quitting

People aren't ready to quit quitting.

You've likely heard of "The Great Resignation", the term referring to a so-called (and largely unprecedented) wave of people quitting their jobs globally in the past year. Dissatisfaction with management, working conditions, lack of a personal life — these were just some of the forces behind why people resigned in 2021. Large chunks of the global workforce left for greener pastures en masse when it appeared their employers or industry were no longer the right fit.

Just look at the numbers. A whopping 47.8 million workers in the U.S. actually did leave their jobs voluntarily in 2021, the highest number of resignations cited by the Bureau of Labor Statistics since they started tracking such data in 2001.

Come 2022, and the movement hasn't shown much — if any — sign of slowing down. In February alone, 4.4 million people resigned in the United States. Globally, the trend has trickled over to Singapore, Australia, the UK...and online.

#QuitTok: The great resignation goes digital

Over social media, a string of buzzwords related to quitting have taken over feeds. Posts range from being vulnerable, angry, painfully honest, and liberated.

On TikTok, the hashtag #quittingmyjob has 121.6 million views. Videos under this umbrella share similar features: namely, people explaining the working conditions that pushed them over the edge, presenting POV takes of their individual circumstances.

Take, for instance, TikTokker @saygracee23, who shared a two-and-a-half minute video in February seemingly just before she was about to quit her job. The post gathered over 1.2 million likes. After her employers allegedly encouraged people to come into work despite testing positive for COVID, the TikTokker's personal tipping point was apathy over a family emergency.

Jamie Mackenzie, director at employee engagement consultancy Sodexo Engage, says that the pandemic fuelled a need for compassion and empathy. When employees can't sense this in leadership, their need to quit is undeniably propelled.

"The pandemic pushed many people to new levels of stress and anxiety, so employers need to show both empathy and compassion. Leaders must take time to understand people's challenges, operate an open-door policy, and perhaps even provide paid days off to boost mental wellbeing," Mackenzie tells Mashable.

Gen-Z, like millennials, are looking for jobs in spaces where they feel valued, both as a result of their learnings during the pandemic and an all-encompassing second look at what satisfying work should mean. Job transitions among Gen Z are at 80 percent, on a year-to-year basis. More recent research from consulting firm Randstad revealed that 56 percent of Gen Z and 55 percent of millennials would quit their job if it interfered with their personal lives.

Narrative-like, in-depth videos across TikTok paint a picture of both dearth of compassion in the workplace and the accompanying stresses that thousands of employees, globally, have experienced.

The term #greatresignation is still going strong, with over 158 million views on TikTok. Users reenact or mock conversations with managers who deny time off or supposedly say things like, "If you can't make this job your number one priority, it probably isn't right for you." One user shared a real PowerPoint she presented to her bosses about her plummeting mental health during her tenure.

Celebrating freedom

While many share their reasons for leaving careers, there are also those who have turned to social media to celebrate the chance at a clean professional slate. For instance, creator @karamazey posted a video on TikTok asking viewers to comment why they left their jobs. Reasons ranged from mental health effects, toxic interactions with colleagues and bosses, lack of boundaries, and gaslighting. One commenter wrote: "2022 new job new life!!"

Exclamation points and cheer are cornerstones of these recent quitting confessions. On Twitter, the tone is largely: "I'm moving onto something bigger and better."

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In other spaces online, the somewhat notorious and highly-discussed Reddit forum r/antiwork has unlocked an altogether different path, consisting of those who either don't think we should be working at all, or those who want work to leave us more fulfilled than it has historically. This space is peppered with sociological texts, political philosophies like Marxism, discussions about work struggles, and internal tensions. Here, there's been documented conflict over what working in the twenty-first century should look like.

In the realm of 140-character thoughts, however, most users detail their happiness at finally taking the plunge to quit. Tweets outline how their mental health improved significantly after handing in their notice, or how they can finally pursue a dream career they once held themselves back from. This trajectory sprouts from a reckoning, with many reevaluating their priorities and what an ideal career — and work-life balance — should look like.

Anna Lundberg, career mentor and founder of career consultancy and coaching firm One Step Plus, says "[People] are re-evaluating what really matters, questioning the conventional corporate career ladder and looking for not just more flexibility and work-life balance but also a greater alignment with company values."

The path forward?

The employee exodus of 2021 has kept up momentum well into 2022. But what does this mean for the path forward? Online, the consensus appears to be that of procuring the best possible conditions for a workplace.

The movement has also empowered people to search for what they deserve, beyond salary and prestige of title. A healthier workspace, collectively, would be an ideal — and hopefully not idealistic — outcome of resignations worldwide.

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Of course, not everyone has the option to quit or change careers. It is, in fact, a privilege to make this move. While the unemployment rate has hit a low of 3.6 percent in March 2022, the ongoing impact of the pandemic remains in many households where incomes were lost. To leave a job often means you can afford to do it or are in a position to. Factors like family, insurance, and savings come into play.

The Great Resignation then, is confined to people seeking better working conditions, being in a position to do so, and believing, if not knowing, that the right environment exists somewhere. And if digital spaces are any indication, there are a whole lot of people who fall under this faction.

For now, the urge to quit appears to be here to stay, at least until one finds the right space for them. The search for a career now includes a patchwork of factors, with agency, social connectedness, and purpose woven into the mix.