In the final throes of the pandemic, with several doses of the vaccine already inoculated in virtually the entire population, other issues are beginning to surface. Because the crisis of the last two years not only put our lives on hold for two years. It also threw away our videotapes and exchanged them for users and passwords of streaming platforms.
Although it is somewhat convoluted, the simile is understandable. The early 20s have changed the way we understand both life and work. In this post on the Befree blog we talk about one of the most outstanding and noteworthy work consequences: The Great Resignation.
A picture with no room for doubt
The Great Resignation is strongly associated with mental health problems. The world has finally realised that psychological well-being is a key factor to be taken into account and not a trivial issue. Without going any further, the Spanish Society of Psychiatry indicated in 2021 that depressive disorders in the population could increase by a not inconsiderable 20%.
The data go beyond our borders. For example, the World Economic Forum in Davos places the state of mental health as the sixth global risk for 2022. In addition to this, other problems such as stagnation, stress or the need to turn their lives around have caused many workers to quit their jobs.
The executive director of The Worker Institute, Patricia Campos, explained a few weeks ago that there is some “concern” in the United States. “There is a historic atmosphere in the United States, it seems to be a key moment in the renegotiation of labour rights“. It is the so-called Great Resignation.
What is the Great Resignation?
This phenomenon has begun to be analysed in the United States. We start with some striking and irrefutable data: about 4.3 million people quit their jobs in January 2022. In a country with around six million job seekers, there were almost eleven million job offers. In other words, almost two jobs for every unemployed person.
According to Campos, workers are now looking for “flexibility, better salaries, more holidays and better teleworking conditions”. It is through the reconciliation of all these concepts that the much sought-after peace of mind is achieved, both at work and emotionally, which combats the burnout worker syndrome.
As we said at the beginning, the pandemic has acted as a spark to start this process. Quarantine, teleworking and all the time people had to think caused them to see the light and decide to take a step forward.
Indeed Hiring Lab’s director of economic research for North America, Nick Bunker, indicates that the future doesn’t seem to vary much. “At the moment, the year 2022 looks a lot like the year 2021. Bunker explains that workers are “leaving their jobs at a historic pace to take advantage of current demand”.
Consequences of the Great Resignation
The workers’ awakening through the Great Resignation has had repercussions across the globe. For example, there is the ‘Tang ing‘ movement in China. Initiated on an internet forum called Baidu Tieba, it is a rejection of social pressures and overwork. The post was titled ‘Lying down is justice’, and the body of the post read “life is lying down, lying down and lying down”.
The post spread like wildfire, and many Chinese citizens saw themselves reflected in the complaints of the user who posted it. This protest reflected dissatisfaction with the ‘996’ work culture, which consists of 9am to 9pm six days a week. In fact, China’s own judiciary eventually banned the practice.
On the other hand, Microsoft surveyed more than 30,000 people, and the study showed a disjointed and unmotivated workforce. In fact, almost 50% of those surveyed were considering changing careers or leaving their jobs in the next year. Among other conclusions, Microsoft found that managers were distancing themselves too much from employees or that high productivity masks how exhausted the workforce is.
