According to a new article published on BBC Worklife; employees are quiet quitting, and only employers can stop it. In a worsening labour market, many employees are stuck in jobs they don’t like. They’re disengaging, and firms have a big role to play in addressing the problem.
June 2023 LinkedIn research shows hiring has dropped by 20.9% in the US and 22.5% in the UK year-over-year. At the same time, employees’ job search activity is surging. LinkedIn data, seen by BBC Worklife, shows a 150% rise in job applications in the UK in July 2023 compared to a year ago. In the US, there’s also been a 35% spike in the number of applications per candidate.
According to the article:
Some employees are happy to stay in their jobs: many have found new roles they’re excited about after reshuffling throughout the past few years. But not every worker is staying put of their own volition. Some employees still want to quit, but with a slowdown in hiring and uncertain economic forecast, they may be trapped in jobs they don’t like for the foreseeable future.
Now, with few job prospects, these employees may not be able to quit – so they ‘quite quit’ instead. According to June 2023 Gallup data, most employees are already doing just that: 59% of 122,416 of global employees say they’re not engaged at work.
According to the article, there are many reasons why workers may be disengaged right now.
For one, cost of living and stagnant wage growth has meant more employees are unhappy with their salaries.
A large swath of employees is also stuck in jobs they fundamentally don’t care about. The fact they want a new role but can’t get one leaves them feeling frustrated, stuck and without agency.
Organization’s lack of personal investment in their workers.
For all the adverse effects on employees, this ongoing issue is also a big problem for companies, since employee disengagement can cost them in lost productivity.
The higher the employee engagement, the greater the increase in business outcomes, including profit.
Statistics prove it:
- 21% Higher profitability
- 43% Less turnover for low turnover organizations
- 17% Higher productivity
- 58% Less safety incidents
- 20% Higher sales
- 18% Less turnover for high turnover organizations
- 81% Less absenteeism
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