For the last two years, people have been quitting their jobs in droves and according to new data analysis, it doesn’t look like they’ll be stopping anytime soon.
Randstad NV, a global provider of employment services, said that the more flexible job market makes it easier for people to find better jobs that meet their needs than ever before.
“That is sort of a change today: Employees are more prepared to attach consequences to their unhappiness or not getting what they want,” said Sander van ‘t Noordende, Ranstand’s CEO in a recent Bloomberg interview. “They’re prepared to quit their job if they’re not happy.”
The Great Resignation was prompted and exacerbated by employees’ mission to create better working conditions for themselves and higher pay through new roles, instead of staying at their current company.
One-third of those surveyed by Randstad reported they left a job because it didn’t fit their personal lives. More than half of Millennials and Gen-Z respondents said they would quit a job if it infringed on their work/life balance. That compares with just over a third of those polled who identify as Baby Boomers.
“Employers really have to raise their game in terms of personalizing the work experience for every individual employee,” van ‘t Noordende said.
With a mostly successful vaccine rollout and a sharp decline in US COVID-19 cases, employers are calling for their employees to return to the office, at least on a hybrid basis.
“Most senior-level executives understand that they can trust their people,” in terms of flexible work arrangements, he said. “The role of the office is becoming more of a collaboration and meeting place than a place where the work gets done.”