Working and employment has been a resurfacing issue and debated for the longest of times. Some people get their first job as soon as high school, and later when higher education opens more opportunities, it opens more problems too. It has been called “the great resignation,” or “nobody wants to work anymore,” but now it’s called “quiet quitting.”

In 2021 alone, during what again, many people called “the great resignation” more than 4 million people in the US alone quit their jobs every month! A study was conducted to see why people were quitting their jobs, and in such numbers. The study concluded 4 reasons why workers were quitting their jobs, these are: workers are not in charge of where and when they work in a business, workers do not believe they are being paid enough for their labors, automation is taking over jobs, and many workers do not have jobs that are ‘meaningful’ to them.

The economic impact this could have on the US is imperceptible because if people are quitting their jobs, some businesses can’t run, and end up shutting down. This can make consumers nervous about the economy, leading to an economic recession. This “great resignation” is still happening to this day. More than 4 million people are still quitting their jobs each month.

As for the first problem – workers not being able to choose when and where they work – it is one of the less significant problems people complain about, and the most notable problem workers report is the little pay they get for their labors. The problem with wages has long been debated, with no end in sight.

A couple theories about solving the problem behind workers’ lack of voice in when or where they work, have been floating around, but 2 of them stand out. The first solution is humanizing work, this means to let employees have more freedoms inside of a company/business. Some companies have already integrated this concept, with letting workers decide for themselves where and when they would be working. The second solution discussed was reducing work, believing that a good education is more valuable than a job. This includes cutting down the average 9 hour work day into just under 4 hours, leaving more time for workers to study and get a better paying job.  

The impact this can have on the future can go two of either ways – the first way it can go is workers still keep quitting their jobs, and innovation brings in more automation to fuel the labor needs of companies. This doesn’t allow citizens to get many jobs. The second way the future can go for companies, is the quitting stops, and workers either give in to the companies demands of lower pay and longer hours, or they get the higher wages they believe they deserve.