Everywhere you turn these days, you’ve got these hot takes about how “everyone is leaving their jobs!” or “The Great Resignation.” It’s potentially the business narrative of the summer of 2021, except for whatever currency Elon Musk is hot on right now. (I don’t really care.) The thing is: it’s not entirely true.
Issue 1: How the media writes about business and work
The narratives that the media put out about work are largely based on either (a) the tech sector or (b) someplace they could get easily-available data already sliced up for them. That’s it. Most people who write about work don’t put any effort into it, minus 2-3 mainstream names. In the tech sector, people change jobs like they change socks, because you can get more from another platform company if you have two good years somewhere. That narrative isn’t related to COVID; that’s the way of life in tech for a lot of people. And yes, young engineers are consistently in demand. We could be ruled by alien dogs, or be as basic as 2002, and that would be true. That’s not a new narrative. Young engineers with pedigree write their own tickets and hop for money. Not breaking news.
Issue 2: People still need income
You might leave a job if you get another job, but very few people — except maybe in retail and service — will quit a job without a backup, because eventually you need income. Short of having rental properties, multi-family, a trust fund, crypto, or the like … you need money to buy things. That’s how the game works. Most people derive most of their money from a salaried income or a series of projects. You don’t just up and quit on that stuff because “the grass might be greener based on an article in Slate.” As an adult, you tend to make more rational decisions. I’m not a good example of this personally, but goddamn if I can’t say it.
Issue 3: We’re ignoring a huge chunk of the workforce
I think we all secretly know that the job market really runs about 17-34, but we don’t openly admit that a lot of the time. Some tech managers say ageism begins at 29. (Openly sobbing.) And now, from CNBC recently, you have this: “Gen X might face biggest unemployment crisis in a generation.” If you’re 48 and reading articles about “The Great Resignation,” are you thinking “Hell yea, I’ll quit today!” Or are you thinking: “I’ve got some kids and an underwater mortgage and I have some relevance in this job, so let me try to ride it out.” Here’s a hint: Option 2. We’re framing a narrative around youthful workers, engineers in demand, a few strategic roles, and retail/service. That’s a chunk of the economy, yes. It’s not by any means the entire economy.
Issue 4: What happens when unemployment benefits cease?
The right-leaning part of this narrative is that no one wants to work because Biden, demented socialist that he is, is giving people free money. So now there are more roles and more needs, and other people who maybe do want to work — how do we fit that into the narrative, again? — are quitting their hellholes and taking those jobs. Now, I don’t see how this applies to a strategic manager at Google, but maybe I’m naive. Someone jumping between two local bars? Sure. But unemployment benefits won’t roll in forever. So what happens when they drop? Are we just back to normal, but with more video calls and the same general levels of malaise around work? PS: it’s also not breaking news that work kinda sucks.
Does The Great Resignation apply to some? Yes, of course. All? No. A majority? I wouldn’t even say that.
This stuff is kinda like political issues: take the furthest 5% on each side, and toss them out. They’re crazy. Some recruiter guy on Twitter saying everyone will have a new job in six months? He’s nuts. Mute him. Now take the other 90% of the discourse. Most of those people are concerned about getting their kid to Little League, worried about calling poison control for someone getting under the sink, and wanting to have a repeatable income and the trappings of success and contentment. They might bitch and moan about “critical race theory,” but it’s a tribal talking point, not a driver of their life. Same with Great Resignation stuff. It’s a tribal talking point; something to consume time. Is it happening writ large? No.
