The change in working conditions during the last few years has led to a phenomenon that is often called “the great resignation”. This is referring to people quitting their jobs for various reasons. The great resignation is probably not the best terms to describe what is going on, as it implies that people just give up and stop working. A more accurate term would be “the great work change”. In the US, the number of people quitting their jobs each month is hitting new records. In November 2021 4,5 million people resigned from their jobs. Apart from the baby boomers, who are retiring in large numbers, people are changing jobs.
What fuels the resignation wave?
There are many reasons why people want to quit their current job. It may be because they look for a more favorable work-life balance. Some people have moved from the big cities to a rural settings and have to find new jobs as they cannot work remotely anymore. Of course, there are those who change jobs to get a better salary. After all, the economy is booming and corporations are hiring. Some people feel burned out at their current workplace and want to start something of their own.
The resignation wave, or job change wave, is not only a US phenomenon but it is also visible in Europe. In Germany, for example, more than a third of the companies feel a shortage of skilled workers. While the most common reason in Europe to quit a job is that the person got a better offer somewhere else; mental health issues have also emerged at the top of the list. Almost three out of four young Europeans have experienced burnout that is related to work.
How can employers turn the process around?
What can managers do to retain people at work? For one thing, instead of just looking at the numbers, they should look more at the person delivering those numbers, and make sure the person feels valued and cared for. Failure to retain employees means that companies have to start hiring in large numbers. Poaching employees from a competitor in the same city is probably the easiest way, but it just leads to higher salary costs without necessarily improving performance.
Eventually, corporations need to look further out if they want to hire new talent. Offering convenient relocation & destination services is one way of making it easier to acquire new talent from other cities or countries. Also, as employers often have a fairly rigid salary range for certain types of jobs, an attractive relocation package is an effective way of reaching out to a potential new employee in cases where the employer can offer a supplement for salary using compensation and benefits packages for their employees. While being a huge financial help for the employee, the relocation cost is a one-time expense for the employer.
What can employees do?
Relocation is not just something that employers offer to their employees. Employees can also ask to be relocated in order to join a team in another location. Employees are often the persons who know what needs to be done in order to improve corporate performance. Jimble offers extensive tailored relocation services to corporations that care for the well-being of their employees and their families when relocating to the Netherlands.
It will be interesting to watch whether the great job change also will result in “the great relocation” in the near future in Europe.
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