The Mass Resignation Underway
According to a recent article from the New York Times, the number of U.S. workers quitting their jobs in September was the highest on record at 4.4 million, and the highest on record in the past twenty years. This “mass resignation” has employers asking themselves how they can not only retain people, but also recruit for the vacant positions they have available.
An analysis by Harvard Business Review revealed that employees between 30 and 45 years old are those with the highest resignation rates. It’s likely that many of these may have simply reached a breaking point after months and months of high workloads, hiring freezes, and other pressures, causing them to rethink their work and life goals.
Additionally, researchers found that resignation rates were higher among employees who worked in fields that had experienced extreme increases in demand due to the pandemic, likely leading to increased workloads and burnout.
Why are employees jumping ship?
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the most common reasons employees give for leaving include:
- Better compensation (cited by 53% of respondents). After all, more pay enables people to do the things they love outside of work!
- Better work/life balance (42%)
- Better benefits (36%)
- Career advancement opportunities (33%)
- Desire to make a career change (33%). This is commonly referred to as “COVID clarity” now, with people becoming more aware of what they really want out of a job in their lives as a result of the pandemic.
What does this mean for franchising?
In short – a thriving pipeline of franchisee candidates. Franchising offers a potentially lucrative solution, allowing first-time entrepreneurs to open their own business in a wide range of segments, many of which address 4 out of the 5 bullet points shown above! Most of our current clients in our pipeline list “better work/life balance” as one of their key drivers in considering the jump to owning a business.
If you or someone you know is considering leaving the corporate world, check out some of our Franchise of the Month’s to start thinking about various possibilities. We appreciate you sending this link to anyone in your circle that you know is considering entrepreneurship. It’s not your father’s franchise world anymore! Food is what everyone thinks of first but is very rarely what someone chooses once we’ve shown them some alternatives. We look forward to helping you or your friends and family explore their alternatives.