Unhappy at work? It’s time to join ‘The Great Resignation’

It has been dubbed “The Great Resignation”. British workers are planning to leave their jobs in droves. Recruitment firm Randstad UK surveyed 6,000 workers and found that 69 per cent of them would be happy to change jobs in the next few months. Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) were planning to move into a new role within three to six months.

This should come as a surprise to no one. If anything positive has come out of the Covid-19 pandemic, shockingly mishandled by Boris Johnson’s government and resulting in more than 140,000 deaths, it is that the way we approach work has undergone a shift.

Employees are realising that they can be just as productive (or more so) when they eschew the grind of the daily commute and the limp lunchtime “meal deal” rushed down at their desks. Working from home is here to stay, despite what some senior Tories would have us believe.

It’s not just about where we work; it’s about how we work, and for whom. It seems glaringly obvious that allowing people the flexibility to work around caring commitments and to work in ways that aren’t so harmful to their mental health will result in greater job satisfaction, and higher levels of productivity and staff retention.

However, the arguments for better working conditions and a better work-life balance shouldn’t be wholly focussed on how they might be good for the employer and the bottom line. Covid might have facilitated a shift in perspective for some, but we need a truly radical shake-up of work that benefits people in all sorts of different jobs because every single person deserves to work in a way that is safe, fulfilling and offers fair remuneration.

For too long, employers have taken advantage of the people who make them money. From being routinely disrespected and undervalued, to experiencing workplace discrimination and being expected to put our health and wellbeing at risk, we often give far too much in exchange for far too little.

We’re sold a lie from being children that working hard at school and working hard again in further education guarantees a stable, well-paid job. Getting our heads down and conscientiously revising for our GCSEs and A-levels does not automatically translate into a “good” career. Too much of the system is rigged to favour the privilege of connections, parental influence and family wealth.

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It’s also worth examining why some jobs are viewed as “good” and others, often the most vital roles in caring, cleaning, waste collection and goods delivery, are seen as “bad”, something which allows people in those jobs to be underpaid and subject to insecurity and unacceptable working conditions. The pandemic brought with it the increased visibility of “key workers”, but the weekly doorstep clapping has – predictably – done nothing to improve conditions for those working in social care, supermarkets and the NHS.

I would argue that most work under capitalism is exploitative. How many of us feel that we have a level of meaningful control over our working conditions, that we get paid fairly for our labour and that work is more than a sense of daily entrapment and (too often) misery?

It doesn’t have to be like this. If you’re in a position to do so, which is in itself a privilege, you can vote with your feet and take your skills elsewhere. Organising and being part of a union, and voting for politicians who don’t cheer when they block pay rises for nurses can also be an important part of the solution.

Zero hours contracts, bogus freelance and self-employment designations, the fetishisation of stress and overwork, and the idea that what we do in our spare time must be monetised as a “side hustle” need to get in the bin. It’s high time that workers took some power back.