Big resignations, workers seek better conditions

There has been talk in the United States for days about the “Great Resignation.” Apparently, Anthony Klotz, professor of management at Mays Business School in Texas, first used the term while trying to tell what is happening in America, where more and more people are leaving their jobs (New Yorker). The phenomenon is growing and has reached record numbers: in July alone, 4 million people resigned (Courier). But there’s more: according to a Microsoft analysis, 40 percent of the global workforce is planning to resign by the end of the year (The Vision).

• The Great Resignation is here and no one is prepared (Wired).
• Hundreds of companies are trying to attract new resources with bonuses and incentives (Axios).

The dreaded re-entry Now that people are starting to talk about going back to the office in most developed economies, companies are in crisis and so are employees. The topic has been dealt with by Forbes Forbes with a fairly self-explanatory piece entitled. “Why your employees don’t want to come back and what you can do.” The health emergency has pushed people into deep reflection, leading them to reexamine their life and professional priorities. In many cases people change jobs for a higher salary, to have more free time, or simply because they prefer to experience something new.

• Work less, work better: companies’ proposals for post-pandemic (Republic).

Turning point? The footnote is necessary and at times even a little sad: changing jobs is the exclusive faculty of those who can afford it. Doing it in the United States is not exactly the same as doing it in Italy, where in fact the latest data of 2020 show that resignation has collapsed. But if there is a positive legacy left by the pandemic perhaps it has to do with the fact that the health emergency confirmed the idea that working in a different way is possible. The lockdowns have spurred us to stop and look forward to how we have lived and worked to date. Is in this context that the Great Resignations in the United States take on significance, and looking to the future with some optimism, could also lead Italian employers to deal more with employees, not necessarily labeled as choosy, but simply eager to embrace a change of course that can no longer be procrastinated (Working Knowledge).