Great Resignation Quitters Received Big raises, and Now They Might Be Out of a Job

Numerous Great Resignation quitters moved up to better-paying positions. They are currently feeling some layoff worry.

According to a study conducted in August by financial services business Bankrate of 2,458 U.S. adults, 56% of respondents who started a new, better-paying job in the previous year are concerned about their job security.

According to the survey, persons who change jobs frequently, who typically earn more than those who ask for wage increases from their existing employers, are the ones who are most concerned about their future employment situation.

Those who took part in the Great Resignation experienced 50% more fear of being let go than those who remained at their job and received a wage boost (28%).

And there may be a connection with a probable impending recession.

First one sacked after being hired last.

A recent KPMG survey of 1,325 CEOs found that 91% of American CEOs feel that a recession is on the horizon. 51 percent of them claim to be decreasing personnel in order to be prepared for that downturn.

According to Bankrate analyst Sarah Foster, employers frequently use the “last one recruited, first one fired” policy, which makes younger workers among the first to be targeted for layoffs.

For instance, a September research from workforce analytics company Revelio Labs found that the average tenure of the 17,000 laid-off workers was 1.2 years, which is half as long as the average tenure of their coworkers.

Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, made this observation in the Bankrate report: “Last hires are frequently more junior, younger, and have less experience.”

If you’re going to fire someone, you’d prefer fire someone who hasn’t collected all the firm-specific expertise, she continued. Employees do frequently grow more valuable the longer they stay at the organization.

Foster observes that for some businesses, marketing funds, human resources personnel, and contract workers are frequently the first to go. Additionally, sectors like software, retail, and real estate that appeared to be strong just a few months ago are now hiring less people.

According to Pollak, who speaks to CNBC Make It, “people followed the money and grabbed employment in areas that were growing quickly and paying competitive earnings.” Now, several of those markets, including mortgage lending and real estate, have stagnated due to a sharp rise in interest rates.

Foster notes that some job changers might have accepted new offers with higher salary without taking into account the company’s long-term health and if it might be vulnerable to recessionary pressures.

The once-thriving industries are now among those that are most susceptible to upheaval during a downturn, she says, as the pendulum swings the other way. “In a downturn, earning more money could improve your situation initially, but what’s more sustainable is whether you hold that employment over the long haul.”

What to do if you’re concerned about keeping your job

The good news is that recession-defining mass layoffs have not yet occurred.

According to the Labor Department, the number of layoffs countrywide in August was essentially unchanged from July at 1.5 million, or under 1% of the U.S. employment, and stayed below pre-pandemic levels for the 18th straight month.

Foster advises considering your strengths and how they affect the business’s bottom line if you’re concerned that a recession may result in your job loss.

To strengthen the qualities that make you an indispensable employee, ask your manager what abilities you could develop. Additionally, building stronger connections at work, particularly with managers and executives, will increase your negotiating power.

Foster believes that if you have a track record of being a reliable employee and top leaders are aware of you, your credibility will only be beneficial.

The U.S. still has more job opportunities than it had before to the Covid-19 outbreak in all industries, and in September, employers employed three times as many workers as they let go, according to Bankrate.

If you decide to resume your job search, think about how your prospective employer could do during a recession. Foster advises finding out if the company has lately stopped making investments or expanding, or fired people, by looking at professional websites like LinkedIn or recent news reports.

And if you are fired, you won’t be out of a job for more than six months.

The unemployment rate, which is currently 3.7%, is predicted by the Federal Reserve to increase to 4.4% in 2023. Compared to prior recessions, this increase is far less significant: According to Bankrate, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Great Recession, the unemployment rate increased by 11.2 and 5.3 percentage points, respectively.

According to Pollak, “there are always people retiring, resigning, taking maternity leave, and leaving positions for any reason.” Whatever the state of the economy, there are always possibilities.