Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2022
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review (website)

The Great Resignation Didn't Start with the Pandemic

By: Joseph B. Fuller and William R. Kerr
  • Format:Electronic
ShareBar

Abstract

COVID-19 spurred on the Great Resignation of 2021, during which record numbers of employees voluntarily quit their jobs. But what we are living through is not just short-term turbulence provoked by the pandemic. Instead, it’s the continuation of a trend of rising quit rates that began more than a decade ago. Five main factors are at play in this trend: retirement, relocation, reconsideration, reshuffling, and reluctance. All of these factors, the authors argue, are here to stay. They explore each in turn and encourage leaders to examine which of them are contributing most to turnover in their organizations, so that they can adapt appropriately as they move into the future.

Keywords

Quit Rate; Labor Market; Great Resignation; Jobs and Positions; Employees; Resignation and Termination; Health Pandemics

Citation

Fuller, Joseph B., and William R. Kerr. "The Great Resignation Didn't Start with the Pandemic." Harvard Business Review (website) (March 23, 2022).
  • Read Now

About The Authors

Joseph B. Fuller

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

William R. Kerr

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • Harvard Business Review

    The C-Suite Skills That Matter Most

    By: Raffaella Sadun, Joseph B. Fuller, Stephen Hansen and PJ Neal
    • June 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Can Goodr Fight Food Insecurity at Scale?

    By: Daniel Isenberg and William R. Kerr
    • May 2022
    • Faculty Research

    RacingThePlanet’s 20-Year Marathon

    By: Daniel Isenberg and William Kerr
More from the Authors
  • The C-Suite Skills That Matter Most By: Raffaella Sadun, Joseph B. Fuller, Stephen Hansen and PJ Neal
  • Can Goodr Fight Food Insecurity at Scale? By: Daniel Isenberg and William R. Kerr
  • RacingThePlanet’s 20-Year Marathon By: Daniel Isenberg and William Kerr
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College