Great Resignation

English

Etymology

Coined by professor of management Anthony Klotz in May 2021.

Proper noun

the Great Resignation

1. (economics) An ongoing economic trend in which employees have voluntarily resigned from their jobs en masse, beginning in early 2021.

   Synonyms: Big Quit, Great Reshuffle

   • 2021 November 5, Paul Krugman, “Wonking Out: Is the Great Resignation a Great Rethink?”, in New York Times‎^[1] (subscriber-only newsletter):

     On the other hand, the Great Resignation — the emergence of what look like labor shortages even though employment is still five million below its prepandemic level, and even further below its previous trend — remains somewhat mysterious.

   • 2021 December 8, Derek Thompson, “Three Myths of the Great Resignation”, in The Atlantic‎^[2]:

     In fact, accommodation and food services, which has been hardest hit by the Great Resignation, has also created one out of every three net new jobs in 2021. Does that make any sense? Only if you think about this as a job-switching revolution.

   • 2022 August 20, John Perry, quotee, “The great resignation: A lifestyle choice or an effect of burnout?”, in The Irish Times, Dublin, page 9:

     There certainly is a ‘great resignation’ but we don't know if people are throwing in the towel because they are burnt out or because they are proactively taking charge. The truth is it's probably a mix of both. There are positive resignations and negative ones.

   • 2022 December 4, Shirley Leung, “Great Resignation? No, it's the ‘Great Rethink’”, in Boston Globe, page R29:

     His [Ranjay Gulati’s] research on how companies energize employees is even more vital during this era of the so-called Great Resignation.