A wellness event that I think would be important to explain current
society is the "Great Resignation" phenomenon. The Great
Resignation refers to the elevated rate that workers have left their
jobs starting in the spring of 2021, and was coined by professor of
business administration at Texas A&M, Anthony Klotz. (Fontinelle,
2022).
Fontinelle (2022) states that some of the reasons workers left their
jobs include the following:
- The pandemic led them to reevaluate priorities and reduce working
hours or leave entirely
- Not wanting to return to the office after they were allowed to work
remotely
- Not being able to obtain childcare when schools shifted to online
learning
- Not wanting to comply with workplace vaccination requirements
However, it further surmises that based on a November 2021 survey,
23% of employees that left the workforce cited burnout as the
reason. (Fontinelle, 2022). I think the Great Resignation, and the fact
that it has a lot to do with burnout, is important because it directly
relates to occupational and emotional wellness. When we're not
getting support for burnout in our jobs, the place we spend even
more time than with our families, what else are we doing to do but
quit?
Anthony Klotz, who I mentioned earlier coined the term "Great
Resignation" suggested several ways that companies could
potentially retain employees who are burned out. He said that
companies need to support their employees better by offering more
accommodating work arrangements such as remote or hybrid work
and flexible schedules. I'll say this, though, I work in banking so while
these ideas sound amazing to combat burnout, I wonder about its
efficacy in the banking industry when banking centers are only open
during certain times of day.
When I think about the height of covid, I relate this event back to my
own experiences. Banking was always an essential field, I mean,
people need, and more importantly want, access to their money, so I
was never quarantined or anything like that. Plus, during the height of
covid, my bank was an organization that facilitated the Paycheck
Protection Program loans to small business; this was the most hectic
thing I had experienced in my short banking career! I think I had like
70 hours of overtime in one pay period; it was stressful to say the
least! All of that to say, that the fact that people are experiencing
burnout with no support within their jobs, I can understand the urge
to just leave. My friend and I always joke about just leaving banking
and going to work at Hobby Lobby or Ulta just for the fun of it!
References
Fontinelle, A. (2022, May 5).
The Great Resignation
. Investopedia.
https://www.investopedia.com/the-great-resignation-5199074
