The Great Resignation may be past its zenith, but total quits were still around 4 million as of the end of October. And while employees across all industries are giving notice, there are certain jobs workers are more likely to quit.
Some roles naturally have higher turnover—seasonal work, for example. But when evaluating the jobs workers are most likely to quit, Payscale found that many of these positions are ones that went remote during the pandemic, but now are shifting back to in-office work. The jobs with the highest number of employees handing in their two-week notice have seen the average quit rate increase 12% year over year.
“We’re seeing a slew of resignations from jobs that have forced employees back to the office, suggesting that workers have made workplace flexibility an ultimatum they refuse to give up—and they’re not deterred by recent layoff reports,” Lexi Clarke, VP of people at Payscale, said in a statement.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, workplace flexibility has become intrinsically tied to employee satisfaction. When employees have more autonomy in terms of where and when they sign in, they tend to give their jobs a higher approval rating. And when companies opt to roll back flexibility by demanding workers commute into the office, it can lead to higher attrition, Clarke says.
But it’s not all fun and games and good work-life balance for those who are still remote.
“Those who may still be working remotely are susceptible to the growing prevalence of burnout as work-from-home employees are increasingly expected to be available 24/7,” Clarke says. “Workers who remain in these positions—for now—are dissatisfied, and are likely to be quiet quitting,” she adds.
Who’s quitting the most?
The job that tends to rack up the highest level of resignations? Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s senior customer service representatives. These are the folks who generally get called in when customers ask “Can I speak to your manager?” They work directly with customers and tend to be the ones answering questions and responding to complaints—usually via phone or email, according to Payscale.
Yet despite regularly bearing the brunt of customer frustration, senior customer service representatives earn a median salary of less than $50,000 and have only seen about a 7% wage increase from last year.
Not all jobs with high quit rates suffer from lower pay. Those with the title “software development manager” typically earn more than $150,000 a year, but many have been subjected to back-to-work mandates after successfully navigating working remotely during the pandemic. Additionally, layoffs in the tech sector are likely increasing the stress and burnout rates among these workers.
Here is Payscale’s complete list of jobs that workers increasingly want to quit:
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