The Great Resignation – a Primer

During this series of articles, we are going to be talking about the Great Resignation a lot. We therefore thought it might be helpful to provide some context to the concept as a whole and offer some insight as to what it is, why it is happening, and what it means for the healthcare industry as a whole.

Broadly speaking, the Great Resignation refers to a pattern of behavior and an ongoing economic trend which has emerged and proliferated since 2021. This trend has seen a sizable portion of the working population voluntarily resign from their jobs and seek alternative career paths elsewhere – often in industries they have no previous experience in.

The term Great Resignation was coined in May 2021 by Anthony Klotz, a professor of management at Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, when he predicted a sustained mass exodus of employees from their roles.

The Great Resignation

(Image source: epi.org)

As you can see from the above chart, while quits saw a sharp decline at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, they have risen sharply ever since and have been part of a general trend upwards since 2009.

The COVID-19 crisis has led many people to reconsider their careers and indeed the priority we place on work as a species. Under lockdown restrictions people learned they could complete work in their home environment and could devote more time to other interests and their loved ones. Many people were forced to try jobs they otherwise would not have considered and have found them to be less stressful and offer a better work/life balance than their previous role.

This is particularly relevant for those who had previously worked in jobs with long hours and lots of time on their feet such as hospitality and healthcare.

However, whilst the COVID-19 crisis was almost certainly a catalyst for this sharp rise in resignations, it is not the reason for its occurrence. The Great Resignation is a crisis which has been festering away at society for some time and all it took was an igniting event such as the pandemic to set if off.

Decades in the Making

A study from the Pew Research Centre has attempted to dig down into the Great Resignation and discover the true reasons why people have walked away from their roles in such large numbers.

Low pay and no opportunities for advancement were each cited by 63% of participants, and 57% said they didn’t feel respected at work. Child care issues were noted by 48% of participants, followed by job flexibility (45%), poor benefits (43%), voluntary relocation (35%), and working too many hours (30%). Interestingly, 18% of respondents cited their employer requiring a COVID-19 vaccine as the reason for their resignation, but it’s probably safe to assume few of these work in healthcare.

Education also plays a role in the likelihood of someone joining the great resignation, with those with a bachelor’s degree or higher less likely than those with some college or less to resign for reasons of flexibility, working too few hours, and their employer requiring a COVID vaccine.

What we are seeing is a pattern where those with lower degrees of education and those in less stable employment are finding reasons to switch role. This, of course, makes perfect sense as more highly qualified people tend to be specialized to their role and therefore find it more difficult to switch to an entirely different industry and are also more likely to enjoy flexible working arrangements, higher levels of respect, and many of the other factors cited above as reasons for resignation.

Healthcare

So, what does all this mean for healthcare?

While it’s true that highly educated physicians and nurses are quitting as part of the Great Resignation, this tends to be down to reasons of burnout more than anything else – see our article on just that subject for more. However, healthcare providers would also do well to make sure other employees within the business such as custodians, porters, canteen staff, and more are also satisfied with their roles and feel respected and listened to by HR teams.

The Great Resignation is putting pressure on all industries to rethink how they treat their staff and healthcare is no exception. Surviving this phenomenon will require a complete rethink on how HR is operated in the healthcare business and how best to not only attract fresh new talent, but make sure staff at all levels of the industry are retained.

The Great Resignation is sure to be part of the conversation at HR Healthcare 2022, being held in October at the Hyatt Regency Austin, TX.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.