In 2021, the world came to know about a silent revolution which engulfed the entire globe. That came to be known as “the great resignation”. Psychologist Anthony Klotz coined this term, to refer to the enormous amount of dissatisfaction people all over the world faced regarding their jobs.
Many of them had been hesitant to change their jobs primarily due to considerations around their social status, peer pressure, or their desire to keep earning in spite of hating their job.
But, the Covid-19 pandemic and its after-effects changed everything. For the first time, many unhappy employees and workers realised that life is short and uncertain.
They came to accept that more than job or high salary, it is job satisfaction, spending time with family, and personal wellbeing that matters in life.
Can Everyone Afford To Quit?
Hence, the pre-Covid-19 hesitation to quit the job changed into a determination to leave the job immediately. Many employees started quitting their jobs, be it in healthcare, sales, IT (information technology), or manufacturing.
Soon, this trend spread all over the world and came to be known as “the great resignation”. But, if we look more closely, do we really see any change in people’s approach towards job and career?
Because, this fancy phrase sounds utopian. Are people willing to quit their jobs for the sake of their health and families? In reality, it is not that easy. Unlike the millionaires and billionaires, common wage earners and employees really can’t afford that luxury to quit their jobs.
There are families to feed, bills to pay, and thus, one needs to make ends meet. Some of them might have quit jobs, but many seem to be just following the crowd.
Difference Between A Job And A Career
Due to the fact that many employees are switching jobs, a dearth of employees with the required skill sets, has been seen in organisations.
Hence, demand exceeds supply. So, naturally, the value of that job has been pushed up, not because that skill is in demand, but just because companies are not sure if they would be able to retain their employees for long, like in the pre-Covid-19 times.
So, few employees are taking advantage of this uncertain environment, by revolving around jobs, and thus, managing to score hiked salary packages.
But, the problem still remains i.e., by changing jobs just for better pay or perks, it won’t change the reality of a job. This is because people often get confused between a job and a career.
A job is something we have to do, but a career is something we want to do.
A Healthy Work-Life Balance Is A Must
The significance of the great resignation is actually about going after a meaningful career, where we work because we want to do that work. We have the right skills, and an interest to do something creative or useful in a field of work.
The Covid-19 pandemic awakened people who were drunk with materialistic success.
After the pandemic, it is time to go after a meaningful career, which would not only give us work satisfaction, but also help us to spend time for our good health, family time, hobbies, travel, volunteering etc.
This is the ideal work-life balance which we should aim for in our lives.
But, unfortunately, what we are seeing, especially in India, is that people are going after jobs, and not careers.
Chase A Career That Excites You
People are willing to slog for hours on end for some foreign client and/or company, just because they are giving a 70% hike or even a 2X salary as compared to their previous salary package.
People are switching jobs because the market is ripe with them, coupled with the advantage of working from home.
But, they forget that this slogging for hours, while working from home (WFH), without a meaningful career is going to hurt their health and family life in the long term.
They are willing to take a job which they hate, just because it is paying more, but it is never going to give them work satisfaction. This is the dark side of the great resignation.
Hence, it’s far better to go after a long-term, stable career, rather than a short-term, high-paying, WFH job which will cost one more in the long run.
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Written by Abhishek Karadkar
This post was originally published here.