While the tidal wave of resignations may have slightly receded in 2022, the workforce landscape was forever reshaped as over 50 million Americans voted with their feet, seeking better pay, flexibility, and respect in a historic rebalancing of power between employees and employers.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, the US saw 50.2 million quits, a slight decrease from 47.4 million in 2021 but still 25% above pre-pandemic levels
- November 2022 recorded 4.2 million quits, the highest monthly figure for the year, representing a 2.7% quit rate
- The private sector quit rate averaged 3.8% throughout 2022, up from 2.8% in 2019
- Healthcare quits reached 5.1 million in 2022
- Quit rate in accommodation/food services averaged 6.0% in 2022
- Retail trade saw 4.8 million quits, highest among sectors
- Women in tech quit rate 25% higher than men in 2022
- Millennials (25-40) accounted for 61% of all quits in 2022
- Gen Z quit rate 5.2%, highest demographic
- 61% of quitters cited low pay as reason #1
- No advancement opportunities drove 29% of quits in 2022
- Feeling disrespected cited by 57% of recent quitters
- Quits led to 1.7 million more job openings by end-2022
- Wage growth accelerated 5.1% YoY due to quits in 2022
- Unemployment rate stayed low at 3.6% despite 50M quits
The Great Resignation continued at high levels through 2022 as workers sought better opportunities.
Demographic Breakdowns
- Women in tech quit rate 25% higher than men in 2022
- Millennials (25-40) accounted for 61% of all quits in 2022
- Gen Z quit rate 5.2%, highest demographic
- Black workers quit rate 4.1% vs 2.9% for whites
- Men aged 25-34 quit at 4.2% rate
- Hispanic/Latino quit rate 3.9% in 2022
- Workers with children under 18 quit 15% more post-pandemic
- Baby boomers quit rate dropped to 1.8% from 2.2% pre-2022
- College-educated women quit 2.1 million jobs in 2022
- Remote workers quit 13% less than on-site, but high-skill quit more
- Parents of school-age kids quit rate 4.5%
- Asian workers quit rate 2.7%, lowest racial group
- Single workers without kids quit 20% higher than married
- LGBTQ+ workers quit rate 28% considered, 12% did
- Veterans quit rate 3.0%, similar to civilians
- Workers over 55 quit rate 1.5%
- Low-wage workers (<$15/hr) quit 75% more in 2022
- Women with advanced degrees quit 18% for flexibility
- Urban vs rural quit rates: 3.5% vs 2.8%
- Disabled workers quit rate 4.2%, higher due to accommodations
- High school grads quit 3.7% rate
- 40% of Gen Z women quit or planned to in 2022
- Married men quit least at 2.6%
Demographic Breakdowns Interpretation
The Great Resignation wasn't a monolith but a symphony of exits, revealing a workforce where the young, the undervalued, and the burdened are walking out the door to the steady rhythm of "not enough"—not enough respect, pay, flexibility, or future—while those with more to lose or less to gain are staying put and holding the fort.
Economic and Post-Resignation Impacts
- Quits led to 1.7 million more job openings by end-2022
- Wage growth accelerated 5.1% YoY due to quits in 2022
- Unemployment rate stayed low at 3.6% despite 50M quits
- Hiring rate dropped to 4.2% as quits slowed late 2022
- Labor force participation fell to 62.2% amid resignations
- Productivity per worker declined 1.3% due to turnover costs
- Replacement costs averaged $30k per quit in 2022
- GDP growth slowed to 1.9% partly from labor shortages
- Quitters saw 20% wage increase on average post-resignation
- Inflation peaked at 9.1% fueled by wage pressures from quits
- Small businesses reported 40% higher turnover costs
- Corporate profits dipped 2% from rehiring expenses
- 80% of quitters found new jobs within 3 months
- Job satisfaction rose 10% among new hires post-quit
- Remote job postings up 300% correlating with quits
- Turnover costs hit $1 trillion economy-wide in 2022
- Manufacturing output gaps from quits: 5% shortfall
- Consumer spending resilient despite LFPR drop, up 2.5%
- 25% of firms raised wages 10%+ to retain post-quits
- Long-term unemployment low at 1.2M despite mass quits
- Stock market volatility up 15% from labor uncertainty
- Quitters' new jobs had 15% higher satisfaction rates
- Healthcare staffing shortages led to 10% overtime increase
- Retail sales gaps filled by part-time hires up 20%
- Fed raised rates 7 times responding to quit-driven inflation
- Entrepreneurship filings up 23% from ex-workers
- 35% of quitters became gig workers, boosting platform economy
Economic and Post-Resignation Impacts Interpretation
The Great Resignation turned the labor market into a high-stakes game of musical chairs, where the mass exodus of workers left companies scrambling to fill seats with higher wages, inadvertently fueling inflation and slowing the broader economy even as individual quitters danced their way to better pay and greater satisfaction.
Industry-Specific Data
- Healthcare quits reached 5.1 million in 2022
- Quit rate in accommodation/food services averaged 6.0% in 2022
- Retail trade saw 4.8 million quits, highest among sectors
- Professional/business services quits: 9.3 million total in 2022
- Manufacturing quit rate steady at 2.1% throughout 2022
- Construction industry quits: 2.1 million in 2022
- Education/health services quit rate: 2.9% average
- Transportation/warehousing quits peaked at 1.2 million monthly in mid-2022
- Finance/insurance quit rate: 2.4% in 2022
- Information sector quits: 1.1 million total, rate 3.2%
- Wholesale trade quits low at 1.5% rate, 800k total
- Arts/entertainment/recreation quits: 1.4 million
- Other services quit rate: 3.5%, total 1.8 million quits
- Mining/logging had negligible quits, under 50k total
- Utilities sector quit rate: 1.2%, lowest among industries
- Real estate quits: 900k in 2022, rate 3.1%
- Tech industry (subset of info) saw 20% quit rate among software devs
- Nursing homes quit rate 9.5% in healthcare subsector 2022
- Restaurants quit rate 7.2% monthly avg
- Airlines pilots quits surged 15% in 2022
- Retail fast-food quits 150% above 2019 levels early 2022
- Hospitality hotels quit rate 12% in summer 2022
- Construction skilled trades quits up 25% YoY
- Manufacturing auto sector quits 2.5 million total
- Legal services quit rate 2.8%
- Software/IT services quits 4.1% rate
- Federal govt healthcare quits 300k
Industry-Specific Data Interpretation
While America spent 2022 collectively deciding we’d rather not be underpaid, overworked, or underappreciated, the data reveals a sardonic truth: we were most eager to abandon the jobs that literally and metaphorically keep society running, from healing the sick and serving the food to building the homes and flying the planes, all while quietly clocking out of the sectors that quietly count our money and keep our lights on.
Overall Quit Rates and Volumes
- In 2022, the US saw 50.2 million quits, a slight decrease from 47.4 million in 2021 but still 25% above pre-pandemic levels
- November 2022 recorded 4.2 million quits, the highest monthly figure for the year, representing a 2.7% quit rate
- The private sector quit rate averaged 3.8% throughout 2022, up from 2.8% in 2019
- By Q4 2022, total separations reached 6.5 million, with quits comprising 66% of them
- Quit rates peaked at 4.0% in March 2022 before declining to 3.4% by December
- Women quit at a rate of 3.9% in 2022 compared to 3.2% for men
- Youth (16-24) had a quit rate of 5.8% annually in 2022
- Government sector quits totaled 1.2 million in 2022
- Job openings exceeded quits by 1.8 million in average 2022
- Quit rate for leisure and hospitality hit 6.4% monthly average in 2022
- Total quits in 2022 were 31% higher than the 2019 average of 38.3 million
- September 2022 saw 4.1 million quits, up 1.1% from August
- Quit levels in durable goods manufacturing averaged 450,000 per month in 2022
- The quits-to-unemployment ratio was 1.9 in 2022, indicating workers had options
- 52% of US workers considered quitting in 2022, per McKinsey survey
- Actual quit rate for full-time workers was 2.5% monthly in 2022
- Voluntary quits accounted for 70% of all separations in professional services in 2022
- Quit rate dropped to 3.3% in October 2022 from 3.7% prior month
- Total 2022 quits in accommodation/food services: 8.9 million
- Native-born workers quit at 3.1% rate vs 2.8% for immigrants in 2022
- Quit levels peaked at 4.5 million in January 2022
- Annual quit rate for 2022 was 3.2% overall
- Quits in construction averaged 550,000 monthly in 2022
- 28% of quits were due to better opportunities, per 2022 surveys
- Quit rate for whites was 3.0%, Blacks 3.8% in 2022
- Federal government quits: 250,000 in 2022
- Monthly quits averaged 4.2 million from Jan-Jun 2022
- Quit rate for college grads was 2.8% vs 3.5% for non-grads in 2022
- Total quits in retail trade: 7.2 million in 2022
- Leisure/hospitality quits declined 15% YoY by end-2022
Overall Quit Rates and Volumes Interpretation
The American workforce collectively decided its New Year's resolution for 2022 was to find a new job, and then spent the entire year, especially a record-breaking November, diligently working on it—proving that while the 'Great Resignation' might have peaked, the fundamental power shift to employees is very much here to stay.
Reasons for Quitting
- 61% of quitters cited low pay as reason #1
- No advancement opportunities drove 29% of quits in 2022
- Feeling disrespected cited by 57% of recent quitters
- Childcare issues caused 40% of parental quits
- Burnout was reason for 52% of 2022 resignations
- Lack of flexibility drove 38% of quits, per McKinsey
- Poor management cited in 65% of exit interviews 2022
- Compensation inadequate for 60% quitters
- Mental health concerns led to 35% quits
- Return-to-office mandates caused 23% immediate quits
- Better pay offers motivated 70% of job switchers
- Work-life balance issues in 48% of cases
- Toxic culture drove 31% quits in surveys
- Health/safety fears post-COVID: 15% quits
- Career growth stagnation: 45% reason
- Long hours/overwork: 42%
- Lack of recognition: 39%
- Remote work preference: 55% wouldn't return without it
- Diversity/inclusion failures: 28% for minorities
- Pandemic reevaluation of priorities: 67% of quitters
- Inflation outpacing wages: 33% cited rising costs
- 4-day week desire led to 12% quits rejecting offers
- Union dissatisfaction: 18% in union jobs quit
- Gig economy pull: 25% quit for freelance
Reasons for Quitting Interpretation
The Great Resignation was a mass, multi-faceted scream into the corporate void declaring, "Pay me fairly, treat me like a human being, and for goodness' sake, stop calling me back to the office for this."
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