The Great Resignation

As I’ve been doing research on my next investment during this weekend, I have been coming across this phrase.

“The Great Resignation”

At first, I really thought it was just a twist off of “The Great Depression” which was the time where all of the major economies of huge countries plummeted. The inflation rate was skyrocketing, along with the unemployment rate. 

The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from the stock market crash of 1929 to 1939.

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Upon further research, The Great Resignation is true and a lot of the business platforms are talking about it. They predicted that it's slowly starting to happen, although it was predicted a few years from now, the pandemic gave a boost that it needed for it to start its effects.

A Microsoft survey of more than 30,000 global workers showed that 41% of workers were considering quitting or changing professions this year, and a study from HR software company Personio of workers in the UK and Ireland showed 38% of those surveyed planned to quit in the next six months to a year. In the US alone, April saw more than four million people quit their jobs, according to a summary from the Department of Labor – the biggest spike on record.

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Workplace leaders began predicting a mass exodus in early 2021, with one survey finding that one in four workers plans to quit their job after the pandemic. 

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The biggest talk of the town in the labor sector is how approximately four million employees resigned in America alone. There is a study that most of them would be okay to leave their current job even if they don’t have a backup job because they would rather bet on themselves than stay in a place where they are not valued and paid fairly. 

In my profession, the finance sector, resignation is becoming more and more rampant. More and more employees recognize their work and are hopping to the next company that would treat them fairly, especially with the workload, culture, pay and benefits.

In my personal opinion, these are the things that contributed to the acceleration of the great depression:

Toxic work culture

As more and more people are being empowered and get rid of discrimination and minority, a lot of people are starting to see their worth. A lot of effort is also being done to raise awareness in setting up boundaries, not just in relationships but in the way you deal with work too. This has been the greatest contributor in the great resignation as one can almost easily leave a job if he or she is not being treated fairly. 

Companies should also start realizing that one of their greatest assets are the people within the company. In the industrial times, employees are somewhat "replaceable" because they work in factories and what they do is routinary, so it’s easier to pass on the knowledge. But now with automation, routinary jobs are being replaced with robots, employees are being stretched to think and their jobs are not as replaceable as before. If employers recognize this, they would have an easier time with the great resignation.

Work from home

As much as I complain with the work from home set up, I’m not entirely sure how I would feel if we were asked to go back to the office. The comfort of my home and the traffic free travel from my bed to my work desk is a big deal breaker with me. 

And as much as it sucks because a lot of transition has been made, more people are more inclined to work from home or in a hybrid setup rather than going back to the office. A lot of people would even consider resigning rather than going back to the office and it poses great threats to the company. 

Gig Economy

We’re slowly transitioning to the gig economy wherein people prefer to manage themselves, rather than have permanent full time jobs. One of the key examples here is freelancing, you can work any time you want, you can choose your client and you can negotiate your terms. 

Another is opening up their own small business, with the success stories that we hear of how a huge business started from someone’s garage is a great motivator for people to start taking risks.

Side Hustles (Multiple sources of income)

It has been said by many gurus that we should not rely on one source of income, hence we started creating different sources of income. Examples are, noise.cash, read.cash, play to earn games, freelancing, investing and many more. And if we’re gonna be honest, sometimes what we earn in our side hustles, outweighs what we earn in our full time job.

This can also lead to resignation as more people are inclined to focus on the things that give them greater returns than sulk in your desk and get angry with your boss who doesn’t give a fuck about your mental state. 

Pandemic

Save the best for last? HAHAHA.

One of the biggest contributors is the pandemic, of course. We are forced to be locked in our home and contemplate what we have done with our lives. Some were proud of what they do but some just realized that they have been stuck in this job that doesn’t bring joy in their life. And let’s be honest, the world is uncertain right now, and we don’t know how long we will stay here. So a lot have been doing what they wanted to even if it costs them their stable jobs. 

Quite frankly, I’m part of those who doesn't have a spark in my company anymore. I don’t feel valued and appreciated and I hope the Filipino employers would adjust to this and not continually exploit the labor force in the Philippines. 

I just wanted to say that if you don’t feel happy in your job and are considering quitting, all of us feel the same way. Just be patient with yourself and remind yourself that we are in an uncertain time and it’s okay if you don’t have everything figured out.

See you around!

Lead Image: Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels