We love our catchphrases, don’t we? Indeed, along with our obsession with memes, slogans, jingles, mottos, monikers, and links, we’re a catchphrase culture. And one of the big ones of the last couple of years, hands down, is “The Great Resignation.” Problem is, turning things into snappy little quips tends to romanticize them, although some really do have merit and longer lives. Be that as it may, it turns out the Great Resignation – catchy phrase that it is – was not so great after all.

            In truth, the excessively high voluntary quits rate is only one element of what’s been the greatest job market performance in history: highest job creation ever, extremely low unemployment, increased labor force participation, fluid turnover, and an explosion of open jobs. All those things are off the charts, but what’s everyone talking about? The Great Resignation. Not only has it been on the tips of our tongues, but we’ve seemingly marveled at it in awe. Should we though?

            Not so fast. Yes, it’s an easily recognized indicator of an active – make that, hyperactive – job market, but there’s a lot beneath the surface that has, of late, been coming to light. And it’s not as great as advertised.

            According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than four million workers per month have been voluntarily quitting their jobs since June 2021. In my 25 years as an independent career coach and job market observer, I’ve not seen anything like it. What’s both troubling and intriguing is that this voluntary quits movement is so large and is lasting so long that it is undoubtedly surpassing the number of workers who are leaving simply because they’re dissatisfied with their current jobs. It also suggests a sizeable number of workers who dipped their toes into the Great Resignation waters more than once since last June alone.

            Other oft-cited reasons for participating in this Great Resignation are: increase in pay, in many cases significant (which employers paid due to the labor shortage); improvement in work-life balance; shorter working hours; career advancement; change in culture; and just plain change.

            Well, how’d that work out? According to a Harris poll, 20 percent of workers who quit during the last two years regret doing so, and an equivalent amount regret starting their new jobs virtually,  feeling isolated from day one. “Instead of being onboarded, I felt totally un-boarded,” lamented Margerie McCloud, an energy sector data analyst. (Anecdotally, based on discussions with my client base, I sense those numbers could be low.)

            The Harris poll and others (I’ve taken the liberty of averaging) indicate that a third of job switchers who regretted their moves found their new roles to be not as advertised, 40 percent suffered work-life balance setbacks, and 25 percent miss their old jobs and coworkers more than they expected. Overall, there was a realization of having left impulsively without sufficiently evaluating the new jobs. “We were lemmings,” added McCloud. “We didn’t do our due diligence.”

            I agree. Certainly, many people did quite well in this ongoing phenomenon that looks very much like recess in the elementary school playground. But many didn’t. The saving grace is that so much good stuff is happening in this job market, that the safety nets are all over the place and very few people got hurt. But when the dust settles, the Great Resignation will surely lead to a Great Awakening that this could have been done more thoughtfully. In turn, I’ll wager a kilo of Dutch chocolate that we’ll see a Great Rearrangement. Exactly what the outcome will be remains to be seen, but I think the recess in the playground is not over.

            The takeaway here is simple. Thinking is instant but thought takes time. So, while there’s everything to say for recognizing opportunities and then jumping on them – I’ve been crystal clear and firmly resolute that there has never been a better time to make the right move than now – it appears that what we have here is a living example of the old adage: “All that glitters is not gold.”

            It’s true that when opportunity knocks, it doesn’t wait around too long for your answer. But while that would seem like a call for immediate action, the job market is so favorable – and it will be for a while – that a moment’s thought could help define the difference between gold and fool’s gold.

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Career Coach Eli Amdur provides one-on-one coaching in job search, résumés, and interviewing.

Reach him at [email protected] or 201-357-5844.