After the Great Resignation Comes the Great Regret

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The “Great Resignation” continues with 40% of employees still thinking of leaving their jobs. However, the grass doesn’t always turn out to be greener on the other side for many. According to Joblist’s Q2 2022 United States Job Market Report, 26% of employees who left their jobs during the Great Resignation ended up regretting their decision. In addition, 42% admitted that the new job failed to meet their expectations, thus continuing the job hunting cycle.

Based on a 2022 McKinsey report, many employees were enticed by the promise of higher pay, better career growth, and flexible work arrangements, leading many to switch jobs in the first quarter of this year. Unfortunately, entering a new job isn’t as simple as they initially thought.

Joblist’s report reveals that 40% of employees who regret quitting didn’t find new job prospects after resigning and then had trouble finding an ideal new job despite a large number of openings in the country. Meanwhile, 22% longed for the company of workmates in their previous job, 17% felt that the new job didn’t line up with their expectations, 16% thought that the old job was better, and 9% cited poor management or work culture.

A job failing to live up to expectations tends to dictate the duration of an employee’s stay in a company. Recent job satisfaction statistics reveal that 48% of unsatisfied employees will stay for less than 12 months, 34% will do so for less than six months, and 16% will remain employed for less than three.

Interestingly, some industries are more prone to having regretful quitters than others. It was found that hospitality employees, at 31%, are the most likely to experience regret after resigning while healthcare employees (14%) are the least likely.

Inflation Fuels the Great Resignation and Regret

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 4.2 million employees quit their jobs and 1.3 million were laid off in June this year. There was little change in these numbers in the previous months, signaling that companies are failing to retain their workforce despite recognizing the “Great Resignation” trend. However, employers are not entirely at fault here. There are bigger forces at play as revealed by Joblist’s report.

A vast majority of job seekers (80%) expect the US economy to experience a recession in 2023, with nearly half of the aspirants expecting the job market to turn sour within six months. As a result, 60% of prospective job quitters feel a heightened sense of urgency to find better employment. They believe that they need to land a more ideal job before economic conditions worsen even further.

Inflation also contributes to the “Great Resignation” and quitter’s remorse even if many employers were making good on their promises to job seekers. Recent figures indicate that 44% of employees received a raise in the first half of this year. This alleviates one of the leading reasons why people leave their jobs—inadequate compensation. Unfortunately, the raises given to 72% of workers failed to reach 8.5%, not commensurate with the current inflation rate (10.3%). The same concern was raised by those who shifted to higher-paying jobs, leading to regret.

Furthermore, the high price of fuel has been putting a lot of strain on employees, resulting in some of them looking for higher-paying jobs or those that allow them to work from home. The high prices of goods have also forced many retirees to rejoin the workforce.

Clearly, high inflation has influenced employee movement in the US job market. If the country’s economy continues to slide, businesses will have to live with bleak phenomena like the “Great Resignation” and the “Great Regret” as if experiencing a job market pandemic.