11 Causes of the Great Resignation To Be Aware Of

September 7, 2026 by Acey Gaspard

Most organizations expect some employees to resign each year — that’s normal turnover. But when large numbers of employees quit all at once, across the entire country, it becomes a serious concern for employers everywhere.

This happened in the United States in 2021, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of employees voluntarily left their jobs to search for better, more flexible ones.

This wave of departures was so large that Anthony Klotz, then a professor of management at Texas A&M University and now at University College London, named it the “Great Resignation” in a May 2021 interview. Entrepreneur and Forbes contributor Lisa Curtis called it “The Big Quit” in her June 2021 Forbes article, “Why the Big Quit Is Happening and Why Every Boss Should Embrace It.”

The Great Resignation: Why Did So Many Employees Quit Their Jobs?

To put the Great Resignation into perspective: at least 4 million American employees quit their jobs every month in the second quarter of 2021. The percentage of workers who resigned across all U.S. regions and industries averaged 2.8% in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — well above the rates typically seen before the pandemic.

Monthly rates climbed steadily through the year, peaking at 3.0% by year’s end, according to BLS data.

Why did so many employees quit in 2021? What caused it? This article is for small business owners, founders, and managers who want to understand what drove the Great Resignation, what it meant for employers, and what lessons it still holds for retaining employees today.

Defining the Great Resignation

The Great Resignation, also called the Big Quit or the Great Reshuffle, describes an economic trend in the United States in which large numbers of employees voluntarily resigned from their jobs starting in 2021.

Anthony Klotz, an organizational psychologist, coined the term in a Bloomberg Businessweek interview in May 2021 while researching why so many American employees were quitting.

The trend is generally dated to the last quarter of 2020 or the first months of 2021, as COVID-19 vaccines rolled out and travel restrictions lifted. As companies resumed normal operations and called employees back to work, resignations climbed.

11 Causes of the Great Resignation

Although the reasons behind the Great Resignation were many, most connected back to the pandemic. The trend didn’t take hold immediately — it grew once travel restrictions lifted and vaccines became available. Here are the main reasons American workers quit their jobs in 2021.

1. Intense Competition for Workers

2021 began with intense competition for employees. This gave workers who were unhappy in their jobs room to look elsewhere, as job openings increased across many sectors.

The vaccine rollout and lifted restrictions gave employers confidence to resume normal operations, and the economy began to recover.

Many employers had laid off or furloughed workers in the pandemic’s first months and needed to rehire once conditions eased. That rehiring fueled competition for workers and gave many employees, some of whom had delayed resigning out of caution, the confidence to leave for better opportunities.

2. Employee Dissatisfaction in the Workplace

A Pew Research Center survey found that 57% of workers who quit in 2021 said feeling disrespected at work was a reason — the third most-cited reason overall. Many, especially Gen Z and millennial employees, said they felt their employers had done little to support them through 2020’s hardships.

3. Low Pay and Lack of Benefits

Pew’s survey found low pay (63%) and inadequate benefits (43%) were both common reasons employees left their jobs in 2021 — low pay tied for the single most-cited reason overall. The pandemic gave many workers time to reassess their careers and priorities, and once hiring opened up, dissatisfied employees moved quickly to take advantage of it.

4. No Career Growth

Lack of career growth was the other reason tied for most-cited, with 63% of workers who quit in 2021 naming it as a factor, according to Pew. Many of these workers had wanted to leave for some time but held off during the pandemic-era hiring freeze, then moved once positions opened up.

5. No Work-Life Balance

COVID-19 pushed many people to work from home, and many discovered real advantages: comfort, lower commuting costs and time, and better work-life balance.

Travel restrictions and time away from loved ones also led many employees to re-examine their priorities. Some realized they valued things outside of work more than they’d previously assumed, and left jobs that couldn’t offer a healthier balance.

6. Employee Burnout

COVID-19 also contributed to stress, with many employees worried about their futures and loved ones. Many lost not only family members but also colleagues to illness or death.

Additionally, as organizations had temporarily laid off workers, the remaining employees often had to put in more hours. These combined factors raised stress levels, which may have played a role in many resignations.

7. Childcare Issues

Some employees resigned because they lacked reliable childcare for their kids. Many cited difficulty finding daycare services, with little support from their employers. Some employees also resigned to look after ailing loved ones.

8. Lack of Work Hour Flexibility

Many employees grew used to the comfort and flexibility of remote work and were reluctant to give it up. Some resigned when their employers required a return to a standard in-office schedule.

The pandemic also normalized remote and hybrid arrangements for many employers, who became more willing to let employees work from home — a flexibility some workers sought out at other companies once they had options to choose from.

9. Relocation to a Different Area

Although unrelated to COVID-19 directly, some employees quit their jobs in 2021 because they wanted to relocate to a different area. Pew’s research found this was one of the less common reasons workers gave for resigning.

10. COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements in Companies

Many Americans initially hesitated to get the vaccine for personal, political, or religious reasons. The federal government issued a temporary directive requiring private organizations with at least 100 employees to require the vaccine or weekly testing.

Some employees saw this mandate as a breach of their rights and freedom and chose to resign instead of complying.

11. Fear of Getting Infected With the COVID-19 Virus

Given the deadly and contagious nature of COVID-19, some employees resigned because they didn’t want to risk infection. The Delta and Omicron variant outbreaks may have added to this fear.

Some employees were reluctant to return to the office when their employers required vaccination, so they resigned instead.

Monthly Quit Statistics From the Great Resignation Period

A total of 47.8 million American employees voluntarily quit their jobs in 2021 — the highest annual total on record at the time, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That works out to an average of just under 4 million resignations a month.

Resignations were higher in the second half of 2021 than the first. From January through June, monthly resignations ranged from 3 million to 4 million. From July onward, monthly departures stayed above 4 million through the rest of the year.

Here are the month-to-month statistics of resignations from July 2021 to March 2022:

July 2021: 4,028,000 (2.8%)
August 2021: 4,270,000 (2.8%)
September 2021: 4,362,000 (2.9%)
October 2021: 4,157,000 (2.8%)
November 2021: 4,500,000 (3.0%)
December 2021: 4,300,000 (3.0%)
January 2022: 4,032,000 (2.8%)
February 2022: 4,352,000 (2.9%)
March 2022: 4,504,000 (3.0%)

Demographic Statistics of the Great Resignation

According to Pew Research Center, workers aged 18 to 29 made up the largest share of people who quit a job in 2021, at 37%. They most often cited low pay, lack of career growth, and feeling disrespected at work as their reasons for leaving.

Employees aged 30 to 49 were next, at 17%, followed by those aged 50 to 64, at 9%. Baby boomers aged 65 and older had the lowest resignation rate, at just 5%.

By income and education level, lower-income employees quit at the highest rate, followed by middle-income and then higher-income workers. Employees without a bachelor’s degree also resigned at a higher rate than those with an undergraduate or graduate degree.

Industries With the Highest Quit Rates During the Great Resignation

Accommodation and food services were the hardest-hit industries during the Great Resignation. Along with healthcare, these sectors were also among the hardest hit by the pandemic itself.

Retail also recorded high resignation numbers, as many workers in these sectors looked for more flexible jobs elsewhere. Here are the industries with the highest recorded quit rates in 2021:

Accommodation and food services (6%)
Leisure and hospitality (5.6%)
Retail trade (4.7%)
Transportation and utilities (3.6%)
Professional and business services (3.2%)

Other industries that were affected include:

Manufacturing
Technology
Healthcare
Grocery Stores
Social Services

Effects of the Great Resignation

The Great Resignation reshaped the U.S. labor market for several years. It pushed many companies to offer employees more flexible schedules and stronger benefits, and its effects were still visible even after the surge in quitting itself slowed down.

Here are six effects the Great Resignation had on employers.

Labor Shortages. The Great Resignation shifted the balance of power in hiring. For a period, employers were the ones competing for workers rather than the other way around, giving employees more leverage to negotiate pay, benefits, and flexible schedules.

High Employee Turnover. The trend raised employee turnover significantly, leaving many companies with less loyal workforces. High turnover can hurt the morale of employees who stay, and low morale can reduce productivity. It pushed employers to find new ways to retain staff.

War for Talent. Job openings rose sharply during this period. A Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis survey noted an increase in job openings between 2020 and 2021, and openings continued climbing into the first months of 2022, when they peaked at more than 12 million nationally. Since then, that number has fallen substantially — to about 6.5 million by the end of 2025 — reflecting how much the market has cooled since the Great Resignation’s peak.

Costs of Talent Acquisition. Acquiring new talent comes with job advertising, interviewing, and onboarding costs. It also pulls a company’s attention away from day-to-day operations and toward reviewing resumes, interviewing candidates, and running background checks.

Business Disruption. When employees resign, a company’s momentum takes a hit. Productivity can dip, and progress on ongoing work can slow. Losing a large number of employees at once can seriously affect a company’s operations and its ability to serve customers.

Costs. Employee turnover is expensive, though the exact cost varies by role and industry — estimates from research groups like SHRM and Gallup put it anywhere from half of an employee’s annual salary to more than double it, once recruiting, onboarding, and lost productivity are factored in.

By 2023, most economists — including Anthony Klotz, who coined the term — considered the Great Resignation over. Quit rates have since dropped far below their 2021 peak, and by the first months of 2026 they sat at their lowest levels since August 2020, even below pre-pandemic norms. The pay premium workers once earned by switching jobs has also narrowed considerably, from a median raise of about 16% for job-switchers in 2022 to roughly a 4-percentage-point edge over employees who stayed in 2025.

Conclusion

The Great Resignation reshaped the American labor market for several years, with 47.8 million workers voluntarily leaving their jobs in 2021 alone. It drove a surge in job openings, since every resignation created a vacancy somewhere else, and pushed many employers to strengthen pay, benefits, and flexibility to attract and keep talent.

Though the surge in quitting has since eased, the shift in what employees expect from their employers — flexibility, respect, and room to grow — has proven more lasting.

Key Points and Facts About the Great Resignation

Great Resignation Basics

A term coined by Anthony Klotz in May 2021 to describe a surge in voluntary U.S. resignations
Generally dated from late 2020 or the start of 2021 through around 2023
47.8 million American workers voluntarily quit their jobs in 2021, an all-time annual record at the time

Top Reasons Workers Quit (Pew Research Center)

Low pay — 63%
No opportunities for advancement — 63%
Feeling disrespected at work — 57%
Childcare issues — 48%
Lack of flexible hours — 45%
Inadequate benefits — 43%

Where Things Stand Now

Most economists consider the Great Resignation over as of 2023
Quit rates in late 2025 and the first months of 2026 fell to their lowest levels since August 2020
Job openings dropped from a 2022 peak above 12 million to about 6.5 million by the end of 2025

Action Steps for Retaining Employees After the Great Resignation

Review Pay and Benefits Regularly

Compare your pay rates against current listings for similar roles in your area
Check whether your benefits package still competes with what similar employers offer
Revisit pay and benefits at least once a year, not just when someone resigns

Offer Real Opportunities for Growth

Give employees a clear path for advancement, even in a small organization
Check in on career goals during regular one-on-ones, not just annual reviews
Provide training or cross-training opportunities that build new skills

Build in Flexibility Where You Can

Offer flexible scheduling or remote options where the role allows it
Ask employees directly what flexibility would matter most to them
Avoid treating in-office requirements as one-size-fits-all across every role

Address Burnout Before It Leads to Resignations

Watch for signs of overwork, especially after layoffs or when short-staffed
Encourage employees to actually use their paid time off
Check in directly on how employees are doing, not just their output

Checklist for Retaining Employees After the Great Resignation

Benchmark pay and benefits
- Compare against current listings in your industry and area
- Adjust where you’re falling behind
Create visible growth paths
- Define what advancement looks like for each role
- Discuss goals in regular check-ins
Offer flexibility where possible
- Identify roles that can support remote or hybrid work
- Ask employees what flexibility matters most
Monitor for burnout
- Watch workloads after layoffs or during short-staffed periods
- Check in directly on how employees are doing
Ask why people leave — and stay
- Conduct exit interviews for departing employees
- Conduct stay interviews with current employees

FAQ: The Great Resignation

What was the Great Resignation?

The Great Resignation was a surge in voluntary job resignations in the United States, beginning in late 2020 or the start of 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and generally considered to have ended by 2023.

Who coined the term “Great Resignation”?

Anthony Klotz, an organizational psychologist then at Texas A&M University and now at University College London, coined the term in a May 2021 interview.

How many people quit their jobs during the Great Resignation?

A record 47.8 million American workers voluntarily quit their jobs in 2021 alone, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What were the main reasons people quit?

Pew Research Center found low pay and lack of advancement opportunities were the most common reasons, each cited by 63% of workers who quit in 2021, followed by feeling disrespected at work (57%).

Is the Great Resignation still happening?

No. Most economists consider it over as of 2023, and by the first months of 2026 quit rates had fallen to their lowest levels since August 2020.

References: