The pandemic and the prevalence of remote work has seen a shift in the workforce, which has lead to many employees searching for jobs with more flexible work environments. As seen in a recent WIRED article, experts talk about job market trends.
The Great Resignation is here and no one is prepared
Around the world, workers are quitting their jobs in record numbers – and bosses are still scrambling to figure out how to keep them
Previously published in WIRED
When Ashley was offered a job at a digital agency over Zoom during the last lockdown, they thought they had found the perfect set-up. Flexitime would be a given. Working from home would continue post-pandemic. The office would be a place to pop in only occasionally.
By the time they’d started the new role six weeks later in Leeds, everything had changed. Cast iron guarantees of flexible hours had melted away. Promises of remote working had crumbled. Even before social restrictions had ended, staff were expected to be in the office every day, from 9am until 5.30pm. “It was incredibly frustrating,” Ashley recalls. “All these changes were done between my interview and my first day – and my new boss decided they didn’t need to explain their decision making.”
Rather than ride out the disappointment and stick with the new role, Ashley decided to join ‘The Great Resignation’ and the millions of others who have quit their jobs over the spring and summer months. “Lockdown provided an opportunity to reflect – and help me realise what I want from work,” Ashley explains. “I want a job that suits my life and means I’m not tied to a desk all day, every day. And if I don’t feel happy, I can just quit. There are more than enough jobs out there.”
Hard data is backing up this anecdotal evidence – workers are drafting up resignation emails, handing in their notices and heading for the exit door in their droves. The trend is worldwide. In the UK, job vacancies soared to an all-time high in July, with available posts surpassing one million for the first time. In the US, four million people quit their jobs in April – a 20-year high – followed by a record ten million jobs being available by the end of June. A Microsoft study has found that 41 per cent of the global workforce is considering leaving their employer this year.
As more of the economy reopens following Covid vaccinations and the end of social restrictions, demand for talent is fast outstripping supply – it’s now an employee’s market. In May, jobs site Reed.co.uk had its highest number of monthly postings since 2008. In August another 250,000 roles went live on the site. “The surge in opportunities contrasts with the severe slowdown in the jobs market last year, with reports of openings receiving thousands of applicants,” says Simon Wingate, the company’s managing director. According to his site, opportunities advertising remote work have grown more than four-fold compared to before the pandemic.
It’s not just hospitality, logistics, and entertainment experiencing labour shortages. Seismic contractions through lockdown have been followed by economies and industries rebounding in a big way this year, some even stronger than before Covid. Intense growth, coupled with the flexibility of remote work, means white-collar workers have more choice where they ply their trade than ever before.
It’s those conditions that are creating the perfect resignation storm. “In the past six months the friction to move has been completely eroded,” explains John Goulding, CEO and founder of employee communication platform Workvivo. “Someone can finish at a company on a Friday evening, have a new laptop delivered, and start a new job on Monday morning without leaving home.”
Coupled with that is the psychological impact of the pandemic: a year-and-a-half, which has involved long stretches of stress, soul searching and, in some cases, burnout. “We’ve all taken a step back and reassessed,” Goulding says. “Covid has provided an opportunity for workers to reflect on their role, whether their skills are being put to good use, and to find a much stronger sense of their own value.”
The Great Resignation is being keenly felt in Germany, Europe’s largest economy: more than a third of all companies are reporting a dearth of skilled workers, according to an Ifo institute survey. “It’s tough to hire people with experience at the moment,” explains Christoph Hardt, co-founder of Berlin-based COMATCH, a global marketplace for independent consultants. “We’re working with clients who are struggling to staff their projects – demand has doubled compared to January.”
Given that unemployment rates are falling, and vacancies are sky-high, where are all these workers going? Hardt believes we’re now simply witnessing a backlog. The pressure cooker of demand, largely suppressed for 18 months, has finally exploded as economies boom. Businesses, therefore, are on the lookout for talent. “If businesses want to grow, they need to hire,” Hardt says. And that demand is fast outpacing the job market’s supply, causing a record number of vacancies.
Employers are also needing to replace workers who have decided they need a change. “Last year was tough, so many people stayed put and hiring largely froze,” Hardt says. “Now, people are starting to think of trying something new. And today, it’s easier to change your job than anything else in your life.”
Workers are increasingly seeking to redress the work-life balance. That’s why Grace Lordan, associate professor in behavioural science at London School of Economics, believes women are leading the Great Resignation. “We’re seeing more ‘quits’ in corporate companies linked to work-life balance because people are more willing to fight for it. The work-life balance disproportionately affects women as they’re more likely to be caregivers.”
Retention is the new fight for bosses, and it’s one that’s being waged digitally. “You have to support your staff and make them feel valued,” explains Greg Keller, chief technology officer at cloud-based IT platform JumpCloud. “If you don’t, you’re not just competing with every company in commuting distance to retain that employee, you have to compete with potentially every company in the world.”
Office perks now have to translate to the digital world and a remote workforce. It’s much more complex than wheeling in a pingpong table like in the pre-pandemic days. “The veneer has been stripped away and I think that’s a good thing,” says Goulding. “What did it really achieve? Companies used to focus on offering the ultimate office experience, full of excess. But the game has changed forever.”
Although salaries could rise in line with supply and demand, Goulding believes they can only go so far. “Above a certain point, people want to feel part of something bigger, a company with a great culture of emotional connection, recognition and communication. If a CEO isn’t deliberately creating that culture, they’re bound to fail.”
The Great Resignation is also extending to Big Tech. It follows the likes of Google, Facebook and Twitter allowing employees to work from home forever – in exchange for location-based pay cuts if they stray too far from Silicon Valley. “It’s taking into account the cost of living – it’s classic economics,” explains Lordan. “But it’s also loss aversion: it’s very hard to take something away that you’ve already given to someone.” So rather than take a hit on salary, some are deciding to quit and move elsewhere.
Employees are also having to contend with confusing back-to-work policies. The Delta variant has postponed the return to the office for many. And for some bosses, it’s meant they can also delay their decision on what happens in the long-term.
The wax and wane of the job market is now firmly favouring the employee. Hardt believes the current demand for workers – triggered by the Great Resignation, now entering its peak – will subside over the next year or so. The tide will then turn, bringing with it the Great Hire. “Smaller cities, which previously had the brain drain, could hire the talent on a remote basis,” Hardt says.
But for some, that sea change is already happening. “We’re seeing organisations, who have great working cultures, attract new talent,” says Goulding. “People who hadn’t previously considered moving jobs are expecting flexibility and have the choice of being able to work from anywhere. It’s the companies which meet those expectations which will be the winners.”
This article was originally published by BigSpeak on Aug 28, 2021.
