Experts Say “Great Resignation” Over as Fewer Workers Quit Jobs

Written By Digital Content Editor Thomas Ahearn

Experts say the phenomenon of the “Great Resignation” – where record numbers of U.S. workers resigned from their jobs – is over as “ten straight interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, slowing wage growth, stubborn inflation, and mass layoffs in some industries may be causing Americans to stay put,” according to a CNN report.

“Almost 50 million people quit their job in the two years following the worst of the (COVID-19) pandemic, citing pressures such as burnout, general job dissatisfaction, or child care or elder care needs. Amid a tight labor market, many were also able to find a better job, with better pay,” CNN reported on June 13, 2023.

“The great resignation, by really any measure, is over,” a professor of economics at Stanford University who studies labor told CNN. “While the combination of a tight labor market and structural change from the pandemic catalyzed job reshuffling over the past three years, that’s moved into the window of history now,” he said. 

CNN reported that data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) “bolsters” the observations of experts as the number of people quitting their jobs fell by 49,000 in April compared to March, according to the numbers available from the BLS’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released in May 2023.

CNN also reported that, according to the BLS, 47.7 million people voluntarily left their jobs in 2021 and an additional 50.5 million workers had quit by the end of 2022. However, the “Quits Rate” has “steadily declined since last spring and is now virtually identical to the pre-pandemic rate in February 2020.” 

The JOLTS defines “Quits” as voluntary separations initiated by the employee and “Quits Rate” as the number of quits as a percent of total employment. Both can serve as a measure of the willingness or ability of workers to leave their jobs. In April 2023, there were roughly 3,793,000 “Quits” and the “Quits Rate” was 2.4 percent.

“Quits” had topped 4 million per month in December 2022, November 2022, October 2022, September 2022, August 2022, July 2022, June 2022, May 2022, April 2022, March 2022, February 2022, January 2022, December 2021, and November 2021. The JOLTS for May 2023 will be released at this link on Friday, July 6, 2023.

“As record-breaking resignation numbers continue to rise in the United States, employers are wondering why their employees are so quick to quit their jobs and how to keep them from leaving,” ClearStar, a leading global Human Resources (HR) technology company, noted in a blog titled “The Great Resignation of 2021.”

“Listening to employees and their desires for their careers is the first step to developing lasting relationships with them. The resignations could be a result of the effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, low pay, and benefits, new job opportunities, or a mix of all of the above,” ClearStar suggested in the blog.

“An employer who accommodates their employees with remote work (if needed) and shows interest in trying to help them find something they enjoy doing in their job is likely to build a relationship with their employees that they are not so quick to abandon,” ClearStar concluded. The complete blog is available here.

Employment Screening Resources (ESR) is a service offering of ClearStar, a leading global HR technology company specializing in background checks, drug testing, and occupational health screening. ClearStar offers pre-employment screening to help replace workers who have quit their jobs. To learn more, contact ClearStar.

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