The US recorded 50.2 million quits by the end of 2022, while the unemployment rate stayed at 3.6% and job openings exceeded departures by 1.8 million. The exit patterns were uneven across roles and groups, from women in tech quitting at a rate 25% higher than men to Gen Z posting the highest quit rate at 5.2%. Many departures also tied to pay and opportunity, with 61% of quitters listing low pay as their top reason.
Key Takeaways
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
In 2022, 50.2 million quits reshaped work, with pay and flexibility driving resignations.
Related reading
01 · Category
Demographic Breakdowns23 stats
01
Women in tech quit rate 25% higher than men in 2022
02
Millennials (25-40) accounted for 61% of all quits in 2022
03
Gen Z quit rate 5.2%, highest demographic
04
Black workers quit rate 4.1% vs 2.9% for whites
05
Men aged 25-34 quit at 4.2% rate
06
Hispanic/Latino quit rate 3.9% in 2022
07
Workers with children under 18 quit 15% more post-pandemic
08
Baby boomers quit rate dropped to 1.8% from 2.2% pre-2022
09
College-educated women quit 2.1 million jobs in 2022
10
Remote workers quit 13% less than on-site, but high-skill quit more
11
Parents of school-age kids quit rate 4.5%
12
Asian workers quit rate 2.7%, lowest racial group
13
Single workers without kids quit 20% higher than married
14
LGBTQ+ workers quit rate 28% considered, 12% did
15
Veterans quit rate 3.0%, similar to civilians
16
Workers over 55 quit rate 1.5%
17
Low-wage workers (<$15/hr) quit 75% more in 2022
18
Women with advanced degrees quit 18% for flexibility
19
Urban vs rural quit rates: 3.5% vs 2.8%
20
Disabled workers quit rate 4.2%, higher due to accommodations
21
High school grads quit 3.7% rate
22
40% of Gen Z women quit or planned to in 2022
23
Married men quit least at 2.6%
Interpretation
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.
02 · Category
Economic and Post-Resignation Impacts27 stats
01
Quits led to 1.7 million more job openings by end-2022
02
Wage growth accelerated 5.1% YoY due to quits in 2022
03
Unemployment rate stayed low at 3.6% despite 50M quits
04
Hiring rate dropped to 4.2% as quits slowed late 2022
05
Labor force participation fell to 62.2% amid resignations
06
Productivity per worker declined 1.3% due to turnover costs
07
Replacement costs averaged $30k per quit in 2022
08
GDP growth slowed to 1.9% partly from labor shortages
09
Quitters saw 20% wage increase on average post-resignation
10
Inflation peaked at 9.1% fueled by wage pressures from quits
11
Small businesses reported 40% higher turnover costs
12
Corporate profits dipped 2% from rehiring expenses
13
80% of quitters found new jobs within 3 months
14
Job satisfaction rose 10% among new hires post-quit
15
Remote job postings up 300% correlating with quits
16
Turnover costs hit $1 trillion economy-wide in 2022
17
Manufacturing output gaps from quits: 5% shortfall
18
Consumer spending resilient despite LFPR drop, up 2.5%
19
25% of firms raised wages 10%+ to retain post-quits
20
Long-term unemployment low at 1.2M despite mass quits
21
Stock market volatility up 15% from labor uncertainty
22
Quitters' new jobs had 15% higher satisfaction rates
23
Healthcare staffing shortages led to 10% overtime increase
24
Retail sales gaps filled by part-time hires up 20%
25
Fed raised rates 7 times responding to quit-driven inflation
26
Entrepreneurship filings up 23% from ex-workers
27
35% of quitters became gig workers, boosting platform economy
Interpretation
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.
03 · Category
Industry-Specific Data27 stats
01
Healthcare quits reached 5.1 million in 2022
02
Quit rate in accommodation/food services averaged 6.0% in 2022
03
Retail trade saw 4.8 million quits, highest among sectors
04
Professional/business services quits: 9.3 million total in 2022
05
Manufacturing quit rate steady at 2.1% throughout 2022
06
Construction industry quits: 2.1 million in 2022
07
Education/health services quit rate: 2.9% average
08
Transportation/warehousing quits peaked at 1.2 million monthly in mid-2022
09
Finance/insurance quit rate: 2.4% in 2022
10
Information sector quits: 1.1 million total, rate 3.2%
11
Wholesale trade quits low at 1.5% rate, 800k total
12
Arts/entertainment/recreation quits: 1.4 million
13
Other services quit rate: 3.5%, total 1.8 million quits
14
Mining/logging had negligible quits, under 50k total
15
Utilities sector quit rate: 1.2%, lowest among industries
16
Real estate quits: 900k in 2022, rate 3.1%
17
Tech industry (subset of info) saw 20% quit rate among software devs
18
Nursing homes quit rate 9.5% in healthcare subsector 2022
19
Restaurants quit rate 7.2% monthly avg
20
Airlines pilots quits surged 15% in 2022
21
Retail fast-food quits 150% above 2019 levels early 2022
22
Hospitality hotels quit rate 12% in summer 2022
23
Construction skilled trades quits up 25% YoY
24
Manufacturing auto sector quits 2.5 million total
25
Legal services quit rate 2.8%
26
Software/IT services quits 4.1% rate
27
Federal govt healthcare quits 300k
Interpretation
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.
More related reading
04 · Category
Overall Quit Rates and Volumes30 stats
01
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
02
November 2022 recorded 4.2 million quits, the highest monthly figure for the year, representing a 2.7% quit rate
03
The private sector quit rate averaged 3.8% throughout 2022, up from 2.8% in 2019
04
By Q4 2022, total separations reached 6.5 million, with quits comprising 66% of them
05
Quit rates peaked at 4.0% in March 2022 before declining to 3.4% by December
06
Women quit at a rate of 3.9% in 2022 compared to 3.2% for men
07
Youth (16-24) had a quit rate of 5.8% annually in 2022
08
Government sector quits totaled 1.2 million in 2022
09
Job openings exceeded quits by 1.8 million in average 2022
10
Quit rate for leisure and hospitality hit 6.4% monthly average in 2022
11
Total quits in 2022 were 31% higher than the 2019 average of 38.3 million
12
September 2022 saw 4.1 million quits, up 1.1% from August
13
Quit levels in durable goods manufacturing averaged 450,000 per month in 2022
14
The quits-to-unemployment ratio was 1.9 in 2022, indicating workers had options
15
52% of US workers considered quitting in 2022, per McKinsey survey
16
Actual quit rate for full-time workers was 2.5% monthly in 2022
17
Voluntary quits accounted for 70% of all separations in professional services in 2022
18
Quit rate dropped to 3.3% in October 2022 from 3.7% prior month
19
Total 2022 quits in accommodation/food services: 8.9 million
20
Native-born workers quit at 3.1% rate vs 2.8% for immigrants in 2022
21
Quit levels peaked at 4.5 million in January 2022
22
Annual quit rate for 2022 was 3.2% overall
23
Quits in construction averaged 550,000 monthly in 2022
24
28% of quits were due to better opportunities, per 2022 surveys
25
Quit rate for whites was 3.0%, Blacks 3.8% in 2022
26
Federal government quits: 250,000 in 2022
27
Monthly quits averaged 4.2 million from Jan-Jun 2022
28
Quit rate for college grads was 2.8% vs 3.5% for non-grads in 2022
29
Total quits in retail trade: 7.2 million in 2022
30
Leisure/hospitality quits declined 15% YoY by end-2022
Interpretation
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.
05 · Category
Reasons for Quitting24 stats
01
61% of quitters cited low pay as reason #1
02
No advancement opportunities drove 29% of quits in 2022
03
Feeling disrespected cited by 57% of recent quitters
04
Childcare issues caused 40% of parental quits
05
Burnout was reason for 52% of 2022 resignations
06
Lack of flexibility drove 38% of quits, per McKinsey
07
Poor management cited in 65% of exit interviews 2022
08
Compensation inadequate for 60% quitters
09
Mental health concerns led to 35% quits
10
Return-to-office mandates caused 23% immediate quits
11
Better pay offers motivated 70% of job switchers
12
Work-life balance issues in 48% of cases
13
Toxic culture drove 31% quits in surveys
14
Health/safety fears post-COVID: 15% quits
15
Career growth stagnation: 45% reason
16
Long hours/overwork: 42%
17
Lack of recognition: 39%
18
Remote work preference: 55% wouldn't return without it
19
Diversity/inclusion failures: 28% for minorities
20
Pandemic reevaluation of priorities: 67% of quitters
21
Inflation outpacing wages: 33% cited rising costs
22
4-day week desire led to 12% quits rejecting offers
23
Union dissatisfaction: 18% in union jobs quit
24
Gig economy pull: 25% quit for freelance
Interpretation
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."
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Rachel Svensson. (2026, February 13). Great Resignation 2022 Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/great-resignation-2022-statistics
MLA
Rachel Svensson. "Great Resignation 2022 Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/great-resignation-2022-statistics.
Chicago
Rachel Svensson. 2026. "Great Resignation 2022 Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/great-resignation-2022-statistics.
Sources & references
45 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level