Economists and labor experts continue to trade theories about what is behind an apparent mass exodus from workplaces amid the COVID-19 pandemic, whether it’s a real trend, and even what to call it.
What’s most commonly referred to as the “Great Resignation” has also earned more nuanced labels such as the “Great Reshuffle,” the “Great Rethink,” and the “Great Aspiration,” alluding to broader shifts in worker mindsets and employer-employee relationships that go beyond a desire to merely terminate employment.
Whatever one might call it, many employees have left their jobs over the past two years, research has shown. This has been most noticeable in the United States, where more than 47 million Americans quit their jobs in 2021 — 5 million more than in 2019. Elsewhere, the phenomenon has varied by region, with a Microsoft study at the start of 2021 finding that 41% of workers globally were thinking about leaving their employers that year.