A report from job search platform Joblist has found American workers are deeply dissatisfied with their employers, leading to record levels of resignations and the rise of worker movements. The finding come from the Joblist Q1 2022 U.S. Job Market Report. The report details numerous worker frustrations, including toxic workplace culture, poor management, low pay, and lack of career growth opportunities.
Joblist’s quarterly study, which surveyed over 18,000 job seekers in the first three months of 2022, reveals certain root causes of the Great Resignation and ways that employers can respond in order to improve their relationship with employees. The report includes the following key findings:
• One in four who quit their last job were “angry” or “very angry” at the time they decided to quit, and the vast majority (84 per cent) did not have a new job lined up when they resigned.
• The most common reasons for quitting jobs currently are toxic workplace cultures (30 per cent), bad management (28 per cent), and low pay or lack of benefits (19 per cent).
• Even employed workers are dissatisfied. 49 per cent of employees who are looking for a new job believe their current employer does not care about their wellbeing, while 44 per cent feel mistreated by their boss and 50 per cent think they are not paid fairly. Nearly three in four (73 per cent) do not see an opportunity for growth or skill development at work.
• 77 per cent of job seekers say they can personally relate to the frustrations driving the rise of worker movements such as strikes, unionisation, and the Great Resignation. However, a much smaller percentage actually support unionisation (24 per cent) and strikes (10 per cent).
Nearly 48 million American quit their jobs in 2021. With over 11 million job openings currently, which equates to nearly two openings per unemployed worker, candidates seem comfortable quitting their job without a new one lined up. In fact, 84 per cent of survey respondents who quit their previous job did not have a new job secured before they quit. Workers in education and hospitality were most likely to quit due to low pay or lack of benefits (28 per cent); workers in the retail and hospitality categories were most likely to cite bad managers (37 per cent) as a reason for quitting.
Fewer than one in three employed job seekers see opportunities for growth in their current company. Only about half of employees think their employer cares about their wellbeing; despite this, 68 per cent report feeling a sense of loyalty to their present employer. While nearly half of those who quit their previous job did so on good terms, 23 per cent report being angry or very angry with their former company. Educators and hospitality workers are the most likely to report being very angry with their former employers.
Job seekers responded that low pay (60 per cent), a toxic workplace culture (49 per cent), workers reassessing their priorities (44 per cent), lack of benefits (41 per cent), difficult bosses (40 per cent), and job burnout related to the pandemic (39 per cent) are driving recent workers movements like unionisation, strikes, and the Great Resignation.
The report found 77 per cent of job seekers can personally relate to the sentiments behind recent worker movements, led by education, healthcare, retail and warehouse workers (between 85 per cent and 88 per cent in these four categories). Nevertheless, a much smaller percentage of job seekers actually support organised labor efforts such as unionisation (24 per cent) and strikes (10 per cent).
Job seekers are split on whether any public measures can help alleviate their collective frustrations around pay, benefits, work conditions, and work-life balance. The most popular policy ideas include raising the minimum wage (42 per cent), shortening the work week (38 per cent), extending universal health coverage (37 per cent), and instituting a universal basic income (19 per cent). On the other side, 29 per cent do not support any of these measures.
“Workers are demanding more from their employers,” stated Kevin Harrington, CEO of Joblist. “The Great Resignation is at least partly the result of companies failing to meet these new expectations – around pay, culture, career development, and more. Employers will need to adapt in order to attract and retain talent moving forward.”
