How your organization can avoid falling prey to the Great Resignation

Workers continue to quit in droves, with the tech industry particularly hard hit, says Workforce Logiq. Businesses that want to avoid an employee hemorrhage need to act.

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Workforce management company Workforce Logiq (WFQ) has released a study on the volatility of the labor market, finding that the ongoing labor shortage known as “the Great Resignation” continues unabated. “With more workers quitting their jobs than at any time in at least two decades,” the report said, businesses will need to take serious steps to avoid losing good talent.

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Gone are the days when non-compete restrictions, in-office work and poor work/life balance were the norm. In its place, the report said, is a world where President Biden removed the teeth from non-compete agreements, remote work is an expected norm, work/life balance is an expected part of the job and where poor compensation is enough to make workers walk.

“Workers appreciate the flexibility that working from home affords, and employees [are] prioritizing their mental health and no longer accepting working for organizations that drain their sense of self-worth,” the report said.

Workforce Logiq used its own Employee Predictive Volatility Benchmark Flash Report for Q2 2021 to arrive at the data used in this report, which also found that there was a 70% spike in overall employee volatility benchmarks, meaning that there’s an abundance of factors making it much more likely that people will quit their jobs in hope of finding something better.

In terms of the reasons people are leaving, the report states that career growth opportunities, a positive environment, company resilience, business stability and strong leadership were the most valued workplace attributes attracting new employees.

As for who is quitting, the sectors experiencing the most volatility are unsurprising given the past couple of years. Public safety saw a 300% increase in volatility between Q1 and Q2 of 2021, with WFQ saying that much of the trend is being fueled by protests and police reform efforts.

Dining and hospitality workers are also quitting in droves: 740,000 of the nearly four million people that quit their jobs in April 2021 worked in that industry. Pandemic staffing, masking battles, COVID-19 exposure and work stoppages have made the industry incredibly unstable, WFQ said. Of those staying, 60% of servers and 46% of managers say they want to work for places with greater growth potential, so expect good talent to be harder to find in the hospitality industry.

The banking and finance industry has also been hit hard. “In the U.S., workers in the industry cite mental health issues as a top reason to quit, and most aren’t receptive to the top employers calling them to return to the office,” the report said.

One particular sector stands out as being the highest talent shortage rate among jobs most at risk: Software engineering. Thirty-one percent of developers are quitting “because they are not given challenging work, they are getting paid below the market rate or they work on badly managed teams,” said WFQ.

IT professionals are also quitting at high levels. The report states that IT teams have become accustomed to remote work, and will quit if employers don’t allow that flexibility to continue.

What can businesses do to avoid being a stop on the resignation superhighway

Companies need an edge to land and maintain good talent, the report said. Workforce Logiq offers data-driven services that can help make an organization seem more appealing to job seekers, but it also offers some general advice.

There are four attributes that WFQ said optimize job appeal: Company environment, organizational stability, strength of leadership and growth opportunities. “Companies should encourage a culture that values and operationalizes flexibility to attract and retain top talent, as well as appealing to workers’ sense of purpose and investing in continuous development so that employees stay adequately challenged,” the report recommends.

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In addition, WFQ recommends businesses use data-driven recruiting techniques to attract talent most likely to engage and where to find the best people. Organizations should also lean on predictive analytics to optimize compensation and account for potential market growth or other factors that could affect salaries in the near future.

Diversity is also essential, the report said. “Organizations that fully embrace, integrate and invest in diversity and inclusion across their organizations are better positioned to find and keep diverse talent,” the report said.

Workforce Logiq also said that its data points to an increase in the number of workers responding to unsolicited recruiting messages recently, which it said means businesses should expect there to be a larger, more interested talent pool in the next 60-90 days. Expect workers to be more receptive to an offer, provided it’s a good one that accounts for the factors included in the report.