The times of lockdowns have been tough on everyone in multiple ways, however, one good thing to come out of them was that they gave us time to introspect and realise what we were not doing right.

Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, we are now living in the era of what is being called, “The Great Resignation”. This era is marked with employees all over the world, having faced various kinds of challenges during multiple lockdown periods, resigning or deciding to change their jobs in search for better prospects.

The term “great resignation” was coined by Anthony Klotz, a Texas A&M University associate management professor 

 In his interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Klotz shares his prediction that many more people who had hung onto their jobs during the pandemic because of uncertainty are now readying themselves to quit.

The Microsoft Work Trend Index found that 40% of people want to change jobs this year. A survey of workers in the U.K. and Ireland put the number at 38% and a similar U.S. survey found 26% of workers are planning to leave their current job over the next few months. 

What led to “The Great Resignation”?

There are multiple reasons why this happening :

1. People were hit by realisation

With the onset of Covid-19, pushing people back into their homes to work, it gave people the time to introspect and really sit back and consider what they were doing and what they were NOT doing. We can say that “The Great Resignation” is a product of  ‘The Great Realisation’ by the people who either felt that they can do better work freelancing or those who realised that their full potential is not being utilised in their current jobs and they can have opportunities to grow elsewhere.

2. No one wants to work offline anymore

As the current situation remains dynamic and continuously evolving, no one knows for sure when or if things will return to normal or when another new variant will come along and push us back to square one, moreover, working from home has made many employers and employees realise that they may be even more productive while working online and save up on many sundry expenses involved in working offline in offices, and so are planning on leaving the employers who are mandating them to return back to the office.

What will “The Great Resignation” lead to?

According to CNN, Job openings in the United States soared by nearly a million in April, setting a record for the most openings added in a month and the highest overall number since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking the data in December 2000.

As more and more employees start leaving their organisations, the number of openings across many industries will increase, which would demand an increase in hiring and talent acquisition.

With the scale of recruitment being high considering the increased amount of openings and correspondingly high number of available candidates, organisations would have to look towards HR Technologies to scale up their human resources operations, which could include elements such as application tracking software for easy screening and identification of the best candidates

The need for HR Tech continues to grow even without a movement like this, with the fast pace of jobs and hiring, HRTech brings solutions in real time and reduces the cost of hiring significantly. In times such as that of now, automating and digital transformation has become more crucial than ever.