Why aren’t more people quitting their jobs?

During the pandemic, for the first time in most of our living memories, the balance of power shifted from employer to employee. By 2021, the percentage of people in the US quitting their jobs was the highest it had been in decades, with tens of millions of people quitting in a single year, confident that they could find something better elsewhere - a trend dubbed ‘The Great Resignation’.

Five years on, and the quitting rates are way down. People are staying in jobs longer, if they are lucky enough to have one. Why?

On today’s show, Tristan is joined by Anthony Klotz, a professor of organisational behaviour at University College London and author, who coined the term ‘The Great Resignation’ and Sarah O'Connor, a columnist for the Financial Times and author of ‘We Are Not Machines: The Fight for the Future of Work’, to explore how the world of work has been changed by AI, political and economic instability, and to consider how we can better enjoy the jobs we are in.

Producer: Hannah Moore

Mix: Travis Evans

Executive producer: James Shield

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Woman working on laptop at home. Credit: BBC