The Great Resignation – the 1950’s Meets the 2020’s

Life often moves in cycles. One cycle arises out of certain circumstances. It creates the conditions that then cause the next cycle.  And so on. The Greatest Generation fought WWII. It came home, spoiled its kids, and caused the Boomers to be who they are (often maligned as Hippies but, in reality, the driving force of today’s society, including its divisions, which date back to the 1960’s). The millennials, Gens X and Z, and so on.

The Great Resignation of 2021

These cycles are at play in what is being called “The Great Resignation”. New September statistics (the latest) show another month of record-breaking turnover. People are leaving their jobs. Many are going to new jobs.

That’s a good thing – a growing economy creates cycles where people climb up the ladder, leaving their former jobs for others to climb into. Others, however, are leaving the workforce for good. And many are avoiding whole sectors of the economy – less and less people want to work in restaurants, home health care, etc.

What Does This All Mean?

Some say the youngest generation is lazy. But that is a simplistic answer. The fact is that many people have found that they do have alternatives. Couples live on one income. Some people have pulled together savings, stimulus checks, and family help to get by. Others have gone to school or entered new fields.

But what has not happened is that people have not rushed into crappy jobs that they really don’t want. Some have, for sure. But many people have opted not to work for low pay, or in jobs where the threat of Covid is greatest, or where management does not treat them well. They have found other alternatives. And those alternatives are now competing with traditional jobs.

1950’s, meet the 2020’s

In the 1950’s, the older white male manager made the rules and everyone else followed them. No discussion. In some industries, that worked well. In over twenty years of representing employees, I never had someone come to see me to complain about their jobs at IBM or ExxonMobil.

By and large, those large, traditional companies treated their employees well. They were loyal to their employees and that loyalty was returned. The technology industry is different. People expect to move often. Companies look to make a big killing and then sell. No one is interested in a thirty-year career that ends with a gold watch at a company lunch. Employees are not motivated to help the company. They are motivated by their individual bonuses.

Now We Have the 2020’s Employment

People got a peek of something different last year, and they liked some of what they saw. People want to be respected in the workplace. They want diversity. They need childcare.

They are going to catch their kids’ sports games, whether the boss likes it or not (and the good bosses will like it). They want a pay scale that is fairer, not one where the top makes more and more, and the rest get by with little more than the same. They want remote work and casual Friday five days a week. They are collaborative and creative and want to work in those environments.

It’s Not the 1950’s Anymore in the Workplace

It’s not even the 2010’s anymore. Individual companies and their managers need to adjust. But more importantly, entire industries need to adjust. The pandemic taught us that staying home with the family isn’t all bad.

You can give up expensive nights out on the town and instead watch what’s streaming on TV. Why buy expensive clothes when sweats work just fine in front of the computer. The lure of higher pay is not sufficient to bring some people back to the old grind.

The Market Has Given Them Work Alternatives

So, business needs to react. No one formula will work. It’s not that the world has changed. It’s that new alternatives have appeared and they are competing with the old alternatives. For some, hard work, long hours, and high pay is still the goal.

But for many others, it is not. The world is different from 2019 and it’s not going back. Those who anticipate what success means in 2022 will have success. Those who seek to return to 2019 may not. Strap in tight. It’s going to be quite a ride!

Labor Law Firm in Northern Virginia

All these scenarios and others may result in the need for legal advice from an experienced Labor Law Firm in Northern Virginia. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help. We have offices located in Fairfax, Virginia and our lawyers have over 100 years of combined experience.