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Workers have been bombarded with news about the Great Resignation for a year, and it's making them rethink their careers

Male worker with a box of office stuff quitting his job. There are people in the background.
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  • People are joining the Great Resignation for different reasons, one of which could be the Great Resignation itself.
  • Comparably asked people "Is the Great Resignation affecting your intention to stay at your company?"
  • Forty-five percent of respondents ages 18 to 25 said yes as did 60% of respondents ages 41 to 45.
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It looks like hearing and reading about the millions of Americans quitting their jobs is inspiring some workers to consider doing the same, according to survey results from Comparably.  

There were 47.4 million quits in the US in 2021, with people deciding to leave for different reasons. From a teacher leaving to become a plumbing apprentice to childcare workers looking to find higher-paying jobs, different anecdotes highlight why people are leaving various roles.

Stories like these and analyses of the reasons why people are leaving jobs could lead to some workers reconsidering their current positions and thinking about joining the Great Resignation.

A new report from Comparably, a workplace culture and review site, includes results from five questions, including questions about quitting. Survey responses were from January 3 to February 3, 2022.

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Among over 5,000 respondents, "nearly half of the employees surveyed said the Great Resignation is affecting their intentions to stay in their current jobs," Comparably wrote.

The following chart shows how this looked by respondents' age:

"Nearly 60% of both the 41-45 and 46-50 age groups are identifying with the movement/phenomenon," Comparably wrote about the age breakdown. "These would largely be people who have experienced a few decades of driving to an office for work every day, and who might find the concept of more flexible and remote work to be something of a dream come true."

Comparably also looked at how answers compared by the number of years employees have been at their current company.

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"The longer respondents had been with a company, the more likely they reported that the Great Resignation is affecting their intention to stay with their company," Comparably wrote. "The only notable break from this trend is from those who had been with their company for 1 to 3 years." 

Americans are reconsidering work for lots of reasons

But news, data reports, and hearing about the Great Resignation alone are not the only reasons people are voluntarily leaving their positions.

"I think a lot of people are looking to better themselves," Marty Walsh, secretary of labor, previously told Insider. "They're quitting the job that they're in, and they're going to be looking for better-paying jobs and more opportunities."

People are also moving on because they aren't feeling valued, according to reporting from Insider's Britney Nguyen.

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"The pandemic has reset people's purpose in life," Jerome Ternynck, CEO of SmartRecruiters, previously told Insider. "The idea that you should wait for your time until the company grows to offer you opportunities is not working."

Work flexibility is another reason some people have thought about leaving their job for a different position.

"Flexibility in the workplace has become the name of the game, and that's because workers are demanding it," Luke Pardue, economist at Gusto, told Insider. "And particularly women who have childcare responsibilities need that flexibility in order to care for their families and care for loved ones while maintaining a job."

In response to a survey question from Comparably, 75% of workers said it's "extremely important" to have "the flexibility of working remotely." Only 2% said this was "not that important", 3% said this was "not important at all", and 4% of workers felt "neutral" about this.  

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