The Great Resignation: 50% of Workers Want to Make a Career Change

Here at Conexis VMS we have discussed a few times the hot topic that has become known as “The Great Resignation” on our blog:

• How to Address the Worsening Workforce Shortage in North America
•  Why the Worker Shortage is the Biggest issue for US Firms Right Now.

We’re now a few months into The Great Resignation, and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

In fact, a new report released by CNBC and global gender equality firm Catalyst, titled ‘The Great Work/Life Divide: How employee desire for flexibility and employer concern is driving the future of work’, has found that half of working Americans want to make a career change. 

The report follows the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The data reflects a similar trend, as there was an increase in “quit rates,” in August, with 2.9 percent of workers voluntarily quitting their jobs, according to the data.

Conducted by Harris Poll, the survey of 903 American workers found 50 percent want to change their jobs.

Speaking to CNBC, Lorraine Hariton said: “Over half of the employees want to leave [their jobs], and there’s really two reasons that came out of the survey.”

“One is if they felt that their employers did not understand them, that they weren’t providing empathy. This is especially true for working parents, male or female. They didn’t feel good about the experience, and they’re looking to leave. The second thing is that people are really leaning into flexibility, whether that’s flexibility by location, by when they work, or how they work. They want to leave if the employer is not providing that.”

According to the report, there are three primary reasons why American workers are looking for a career change. We have summarized those points here.

1. Workers want more flexibility
2. Men are more likely to seek a career change than women
3. Working parents are nearly twice as likely to consider quitting 

The survey found that a staggering 76 percent of respondents wanted their company to make work permanently flexible in terms of schedule and location. Of the 50 percent of workers who intend to make career changes, 41 percent are seeking flexible and/or remote work, 39 percent want a raise and/or promotion and 33 percent are looking to change industries. 

There’s no surprise then, that companies are turning to the contingent workforce to address skill shortages. The use of staffing agencies and temporary workers can help organizations address concerns around the skill shortage and acquire top talent quickly. 

With contingent work offering many workers the flexibility they desire, it’s very possible that an increasing number of skilled workers will start looking for temporary and contract positions over the next few months.

The report found that employed men are far more likely than employed women to say they are considering quitting their job because their company (50 percent vs. 30 percent) or manager (44 percent vs. 29 percent) has not cared about their concerns during the pandemic.

Employed men are also more likely than employed women to say they’re going to ask their employer for a raise and/or promotion (45 percent vs. 28 percent).

One of the most common factors in workers wanting to quit their job is if they have children. In fact, the report found that 54 percent of parents are considering leaving their job because their company has not cared about their concerns during the pandemic and 51 percent are considering leaving their job because their manager has not cared about their concerns during the pandemic. 

Just 29 percent and 25 percent of workers without children express the same feelings, respectively. 

Plus, employed parents are more likely than employed non-parents to say they intend to ask for remote work flexibility (51 percent vs. 34 percent), ask their employer for a raise and/or promotion (47 percent vs. 22 percent) and to quit their current job to start their own business (27 percent vs. 10 percent). 

So, what does this all mean for your business? With the increasingly competitive nature of finding new candidates to fill open positions, companies must now look outside of the traditional worker to fulfill their workforce requirements. 

That’s why many businesses are having great success through the use of staffing agencies to hire contingent workers. This truly is one of the best ways to navigate the current skills shortage. 

Is your organization struggling to acquire talented and skilled workers due to The Great Resignation? Get in touch with Conexis VMS today and find out how a VMS can help you access skilled talent by optimizing and improving how you manage your staffing agencies.