The Great Resignation Continues

Aug 08, 2022

Lack of career progression is the number one reason people are leaving their jobs, according to a new McKinsey study.


McKinsey identified three sub-trends within this continued wave of the great resignation:

  • Reshuffling. Employees are quitting and going to different employers in different industries (48% of the job leavers in their sample). Some industries are disproportionately losing talent, others are struggling to attract talent, and some are grappling with both.
  • Reinventing. Many employees leaving traditional employment are either going to nontraditional work (temporary, gig, or part-time roles) or starting their own businesses. Of the employees who quit without a new job in hand, 47% chose to return to the workforce. However, only 29% returned to traditional full-time employment.
  • Reassessing. Many people are quitting not for other jobs but because of the demands of life—they need to care for children, elders, or themselves. These are people who may have stepped out of the workforce entirely, dramatically shrinking the readily available talent pool.

The study also found that 40% of respondents were considering leaving their jobs in the next 3-6 months.

So what?

Old models of recruitment, retention and incentivisation simply aren't working. Combined with the rising cost of living and sky rocketing inflation, employers are stuck in the middle. McKinsey's data shows massively high movement out of the not-for-profit sector sector in the last two years, with 72% of those who quit their jobs not returning to the sector.

How can you nurture and retain talent by giving people tracks for career progression and growth? And how can you build culture in hybrid working environments?