Gillian Seely
Boston job-seekers: this is huge. We are now witnessing the beginning of a trend that is indicative of economic upswing- more workers are voluntarily quitting their jobs. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that February saw a higher number of voluntary departures than forced layoffs- a phenomenon not seen in this country since October of 2008.
The article cites: “In a poll conducted by human-resources consultant Right Management at the end of 2009, 60% of workers said they intended to leave their jobs when the market got better.” Apparently, that time is now.
What does this mean? Americans are re-gaining control over their careers. Less intimidated by fear of layoffs, they are increasingly seeing their options grow, and are leaving the “be happy you have a job” mentality behind.
It’s about time.
So who will likely be handing in their resignation? Those who were forced to take a pay-cut; those who were subtly threatened with a layoff, or who watched their hard-working colleagues get cut en masse; those whose workdays were lengthened and who made unrealistic sacrifices to their personal lives for work; those who have lived in fear of repercussion for something as innocent as taking a vacation or a sick day.
The prediction? Several years of a national fear-induced job coma, combined with the wave of job-seekers emerging from the allegedly über-picky and demanding Gen-Y demographic, will bring about a huge talent-drain for employers who have engaged in the above practices, and also for those that don’t offer a dynamic workplace, an engaging brand, and a humane work-life balance. Job-seekers have been almost bullied into keeping their professional lives flawless and delivering top-notch results over the last few years. Now, the tides are turning, and the same will be expected of companies. This is definitely an interesting and challenging time to be in HR, and it’s (finally) a great time to be a job-seeker!
Worried? Check out this article that offers ways to keep your employees from jumping ship.
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Many employers are taking advantage of the recession while misusing, verbally abusing and insulting their employees and unfortunately, many employees must make a choice to accept it or have faith and immediately resign from their position.
President Barack Obama promises to give more jobs;however, it takes time for his strategy to progress. His promises may not come to past for several years, because of the financial crisis within this country. The cost of many American soldiers in Iraq is costing this country billions of dollars.
The Great Recession hit the American workforce hard. October employment numbers are out and the hiring landscape is looking better, but we’re not in the clear quite yet. We’ve got all of the facts and figures your service industry business needs to stay on top of hiring smart in 2011. Click below to make 2011 your best business year yet.
http://www.peoplematter.com/blog/hiring-landscape
I’d be interested in seeing the numbers now…with all of the layoffs and terminations that we hear about just from our families and friends, it’d be interesting to hear about the stats across the country.