40% of American workers are thinking of leaving their jobs soon

More than 4 million people have They quit their jobs Every month in the US so far this year — and according to new research, this record-breaking trend isn’t going to stop anytime soon.

About 40% of American workers are considering leaving their current jobs in the next three to six months, a Report From McKinsey & Co. published last week, which included 6,294 Americans between February and April, found.

“This is not just a passing trend, or an epidemic-related change in the labor market,” Bonnie Dowling, one of the report’s authors, says of rising smoking cessation rates. “There has been a fundamental shift in workers’ mindset, their willingness to prioritize things in their lives other than the job they hold… We will never go back to the way things were in 2019.”

Conversations like this about the “Great Resignation” often focus on why people quit – low salaries, few opportunities for career advancement, inflexible work schedules – but what we hear often is what happens. after, after People are leaving their jobs.

McKinsey and Co. He also spoke with more than 2,800 people in six countries – the US, Australia, Canada, Singapore, India and the UK – who have quit their full-time jobs in the past two years to find out where workers are going.

Nearly half of those who quit their jobs are changing industries

The report found that about 48% of people who quit smoking sought new opportunities in different industries.

Dowling points to two factors driving this exodus: pandemic fatigue and better prospects for securing a higher-paid role in a tight labor market.

“A lot of people have realized how volatile or insecure their industry is during the pandemic, especially those working on the front lines,” Dowling says.

At the same time, companies are still struggling to attract and retain employees — a pattern that has undoubtedly caused a lot of trouble for HR departments across the US, but has also opened the door for job seekers to take advantage of new opportunities that were out of reach before the pandemic. .

“More and more employers are opening their doors to fill the growing talent gap they face,” Dowling adds. “They prioritize skills over educational background or previous job experience, creating more opportunities across sectors for job seekers.”

Some industries are losing talent faster than others: More than 70% of workers who quit their consumer/retail and finance/insurance jobs either switch industries or quit the workforce entirely, compared to 54% of workers in healthcare and education who made such This switch.

Others quit to start their own business, or pursue an unconventional business

The report notes that nearly half (47%) of people who quit without a new job choose to return to the workforce – but only 29% return to a traditional full-time job. These percentages come from a Mars McKenzie And Co. surveyed 600 American workers who voluntarily quit their job without queuing up further.

The remaining 18% of people either found a new role with reduced hours by working on a temporary, temporary or part-time basis or decided to start their own business.

“People can no longer tolerate bad bosses and toxic cultures, because they can leave and find other ways to make money without being in a negative situation,” Dowling says. “There are more jobs now than ever thanks to our increased connectivity.”

More people choose to be their boss: Over the course of the pandemic, new business applications slept by That’s more than 30%, the White House said in an April press release, with nearly 5.4 million new applications in 2021 alone.

It’s not just about escaping a toxic work environment. Such unconventional endeavors also satisfy people’s growing desire for flexibility. The freedom to work from anywhere, or choose your own hours, has become the most sought-after benefit during the pandemic — so much so that people value flexibility as much as a 10% pay increase, according to Research From the WFH Research Project.

Rapid smoking cessation could last into 2022 unless companies make ‘meaningful’ changes

Even with a possible recession looming, Dowling expects people to continue to quit and change jobs at high rates in the coming months.

Much of this trend has been driven by a “drastic” change in social norms around smoking cessation. “For a long time, you didn’t leave a job unless you had another—that’s what everyone learned and what people did,” she says. “But that has changed dramatically over the past 18 months… Now, people’s attitude is, ‘I’m confident that when I want to work, there’s going to be something for me.'”

Rather than lamenting the persistent labor shortage, Dowling says, companies need to look at the changing economic landscape in the United States as an opportunity to reshape the way we work and build a better model.

“It’s everything from embedding flexibility in our doctrine to reassessing how we value our employees and providing them with the resources they need to do their work…All employers have the power to make these meaningful changes,” she adds. “But we have to start taking action, rather than holding back and hoping that things will return to ‘pre-pandemic norm’ – because all the signs point to the fact that they won’t.”

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