Workers regret switching jobs during Great Resignation: poll

Workers who switched jobs during the pandemic-era Great Resignation were less satisfied than those who stuck with their employer last year — a major reversal from the previous year, according to a survey.

The poll found that 65% of workers who stayed put in 2023 were satisfied — compared to 59% for those who sought out greener pastures, according to the survey of between 1,500 and 2,000 working adults in the US by The Conference Board, a nonprofit think tank and business membership organization.

In 2022, the same survey found two-thirds of those who switched jobs following the pandemic were satisfied, compared to 62% for those who did not change jobs.

“It seems the grass wasn’t always greener on the other side for some folks,” Travis Lindemoen, founder and CEO of the AI-powered recruiting firm Enjoy Mondays, told The Post.

Lindemoen said that the “initial pandemic job market” was “crazy” for recruiters as companies were “throwing around money to fill open positions, and it was easy to get caught up in the excitement of a bigger paycheck or a flashier title.”

But those who switched jobs were disappointed “to find out the company culture was a total mismatch, or the workload ended up being way more than advertised.”

“On top of that, with economic uncertainty looming, some of those high-growth companies that were aggressively hiring are now tightening their belts, leading to job insecurity for newer employees,” Lindemoen said.

“So, while a shiny new position might have looked great on paper, it seems like those who stayed put at their old jobs might have benefited from a sense of stability and familiarity, especially as things got a little shaky in the broader economy.”

Companies are more apt to let go of recently hired workers — consistent with the adage “Last in, first out,” according to Axios, which first reported the survey.

Between 2020 and 2022, workers in industries such as personal care services, technology and transportation switched jobs in what became known as the “Great Resignation.”

At the height of the trend, a record 4.5 million workers — or 3% of the US workforce — were quitting their jobs each month.

A 2023 survey by payroll processing company Paychex found that around 80% of those who quit their jobs during the Great Resignation regretted their decision to leave.

While the Great Resignation is thought to be a thing of the past, that doesn’t mean all workers are satisfied with where they are.

A recent survey by Microsoft and LinkedIn predicted that nearly half of all professionals (46%) are considering quitting their jobs in the year ahead.

On Thursday, the federal government released data showing that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits jumped to its highest level in more than eight months last week, another indication that the red hot US labor market may be softening.

The moderation in the pace of hiring, along with a slowdown in wage growth, could give the Fed the data its been seeking in order to finally issue a cut to interest rates.

Unemployment claims for the week ending May 4 rose by 22,000 to 231,000, up from 209,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Though last week’s claims were the most since the final week of August 2023, it’s still a relatively low number of layoffs and not cause for concern.

The four-week average of claims, which softens some of the weekly volatility, rose by 4,750 to 215,000.

Weekly unemployment claims are considered a proxy for the number of US layoffs in a given week and a sign of where the job market is headed.

They have remained at historically low levels since the pandemic purge of millions of jobs in the spring of 2020.

Last month, US employers added just 175,000 jobs, the fewest in six months and another sign that the labor market may be loosening.

The unemployment rate inched back up to 3.9% from 3.8% and has now remained below 4% for 27 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s.

The government also recently reported 8.5 million job openings in March, the lowest number of vacancies in three years.

With Post Wires