Around 4.5M workers walked away from their jobs in November, which came out to 3 percent of the American workforce. While quitting rates are increasing in every industry, hospitality, health care, social assisting, and transportation were affected the most. Workers continue to have the upper hand in the labor market, leaving many employers struggling to fill the open positions.
Recently, Augie Ray, a vice president of research in customer experience at Gartner, created a post on LinkedIn that a member of the Anti Work subreddit quickly picked up and shared with the community. Ray provided a point-by-point explanation on why some company leaders should complain less and stop blaming the workers for the difficulties of recruiting and maintaining their employees.
He focused on the bosses who are not doing enough to improve the workplace environment, working conditions, and the general well-being of their staff. Make sure to scroll down to find his insights right below.
Recently, Augie Ray provided a point-by-point explanation on why bosses should complain less about their employees
Image credits: Pxhere (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Augie Ray
The post quickly went viral, amassing 17.1K likes on LinkedIn and more than 130K upvotes on the Anti Work forum. The popular subreddit describes itself as a place "for those who want to end work, are curious about ending work, [and] want to get the most out of a work-free life." Many members of this online community started a discussion in the comments and shared their experiences about companies that show a lack of respect for their employees.
However, not having expected to get so much attention from his post, Augie Ray provided an update the next day. He feared that some people might have misunderstood him, so he decided to clarify a few things. Ray mentioned that even though his insights got picked up by the Anti Work subreddit, he is fully pro-work.
He explained that the bosses should improve employee experience and work harder to maintain the talent they already have, but the key point he wanted to emphasize is that people do want to work. Too often workers have been called lazy, incompetent, or accused of not caring enough. Augie Ray wanted to highlight that people have a desire to work and that leaders should stop demeaning them.
If you haven’t heard of the Great Resignation, Anthony Klotz, a professor at Texas A&M University, coined the phrase to describe the wave of people quitting their jobs due to the pandemic. Many started to re-examine the company they were working at, the benefits their job had to offer, and why they work in the first place.
Klotz shared a prediction for what work could look like in 2022 with CNBC Make It. He said that bosses who blame external factors for the turnover and refuse to offer flexible work conditions will be the "losers who struggle in the wake of the Great Resignation."
"A silver lining of this horrible pandemic is that the world of work will take a huge positive step forward for workers," the professor added. "Work will fit around our personal lives rather than our personal lives fitting around work."
Workers have the power in this tight job market. While employers start wondering how they can find more talent to fill in the open jobs at their company, they might forget to listen to people's needs. According to Klotz, "It’s not just about getting another job, or leaving the workforce, it’s about taking control of your work and personal life, and making a big decision – resigning – to accomplish that. This is a moment of empowerment for workers, one that will continue well into the new year."
His insights were quickly picked up by the Anti Work community, here’s what they had to say
