Should UK Firms be bracing for a Great British Resignation in 2022?
Publish Date:Posted over 2 years ago
Author:by VANRATH
In 2021, businesses in the UK were faced with increasing numbers of employees leaving their jobs voluntarily. Now, new research shows that many more employers may face the prospect of more resignations and a hiring crunch going into the third year of the pandemic.
According to 45% of managers surveyed by the Chartered Management Institute for Bloomberg News, voluntary departures between April and December last year were higher than in the same period in 2019.
More managers at large organisations saw staff leave compared to those at smaller companies. Furthermore, 60% of managers in the private sector said it is now harder to recruit for job roles than it was before the pandemic.
The poll of 1,226 managers in the UK, conducted between 9-14thDecember points to a profound shift in the labour market that’s become known in the United States as the “Great Resignation” amid high levels of burnout.
Research shows that most firms have altered their working practices with 89% of organisations now offering flexible working arrangements compared to 58% before March 2020.
However, almost nine in ten managers (89%) said their business currently has vacancies and more than half (55%) said sourcing new employees is harder now than before the pandemic hit.
Excluding those who said they didn’t know, some 45% of managers said more staff had been voluntarily leaving this year compared to 2019, while 39% said the level was about the same. Just 16% said fewer staff had left.
One in five managers also reported an increase in the number of staff moving from full-time to part-time since March 2020, compared to just 3% who said this had fallen.
Ann Francke, Chief Executive Officer of the CMI, said the January job market would become “even more fierce as employees seek out new roles that meet their changing demands and aspirations.”
“Just offering big budget salaries isn’t cutting it anymore,” she said. “Managers who aren’t adapting their working models will be left wanting - and their organisations will pay the price.”
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