It was called the Great Resignation: That sunny period after the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, where some 50 million workaday grunts threw off their shackles and sought their fortunes elsewhere.
Turns out, however, it wasn’t such a hot idea.
According to a new survey of 825 employees and 354 employers conducted by Paychex, 80% of those employees who pulled up anchor and set sail for new adventures — and/or a better work/life balance — have instead broadsided a rock called regret.
That 80% jumps to nearly 90% with Gen Z employees, the survey showed.
Dovetailing nicely with the maritime metaphors, the CEO of job search site RedBalloon, Andrew Crapuchettes,says, “‘The Great Regret’ is a lesson for jobseekers to do better advance scouting before they jump ship.”
He added, “In the Great Resignation, employers were throwing huge sign-up bonuses and other wads of cash at job switchers. But, now 8 in 10 have discovered that money wasn’t the answer.”
Just half of those who left their job for the oasis of a better work/life balance with another employer have actually found it, according to the survey.
In fact, 68% of those who’ve quit admitted to asking for their old jobs back — but only 27% of employers say they’ve rehired such folks.
The survey also showed that the 9 in 10 who left their industry altogether, one of the selling points of the so-called Great Resignation, regretted quitting the most.
For those folks, just 11% found a new job within three months; 50% found a new gig between three to six months; 21% within seven to nine months; 12% within 10 to 12. For 6%, it took over a year to get another job.
Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.