Is "The Great Resignation" a good thing or a bad thing?

  • 19 October 2021
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I was struck to read this quote in an Atlantic article about The Great Resignation:

 

As I wrote in the spring, quitting is a concept typically associated with losers and loafers. But this level of quitting is really an expression of optimism that says, We can do better.

 

After 19 months of fear and ongoing bad news, I felt a sense of relief at the thought that this big economic shift we're hearing about could be a good thing for us. From what I've read, "The Great Resignation" may indicate a new way we're reconnecting with ourselves. As someone who tends to be cynical, I will gladly cling onto the idea that maybe all this bad stuff can lead to greater connection.

 

What do you think? Are we connecting more to ourselves and even to each other amidst all this change? Or is this our attmept at finding a sliver lining to a grey cloud?


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@Alexis Luscutoff -

I think the last year and a half has provided folks with an opportunity to gain perspective on what is important to them and to realize that the long standing ways of working aren’t absolute. Pandemic restrictions have also unleashed creativity on many levels and many people have discovered that they can do other types of work to feel more fulfilled while still making ends meet.

No question, the threshold of tolerance for many workers has reduced and people managers will need to be conscious of the fact that their staff might expect more than they had prior to the pandemic to stay put.

Kiron

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@Kiron Bondale interesting thinking! I am with you. This year has gotten me to think a lot about the idea of the whole person & how culturally we have been required to acknowledge that people are more than just who they are at work. 

What particularly stands out to me about your note is this line: 

Pandemic restrictions have also unleashed creativity on many levels...

 

I think that’s true and also there’s more than meets the eye. Getting quiet & spending time alone has enabled us to see what matters to us. Whether we have the ability/situation/stability/etc to act on that certainly varies. I myself have gotten more creative in certain ways, but pandemic-era-fatigue makes it harder for me to be creative, which I’m sure many people can relate to. But the way I’m writing this suggests it’s binary, which it isn’t. Perhaps we’ve been able to access creativity in new ways that come and go, but the fact that a new door to creativity is ajar has created the potential for the change that people have needed. Which, I think has gotten me right back to your point! :grin:

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@Alexis Luscutoff -

You just have to look at the baking bread craze to see how creativity found new avenues during the pandemic.

My list of “new” paths included:

  • Baking bread 
  • Publishing a book
  • Miro board designing
  • Re-kindling my lost love of jazz

Kiron

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