Even if workers did not substantially alter their career trajectories with these moves, it has been good news for their wages. Workers moving jobs within the same occupation have historically achieved higher wage gains than those staying at the same employer, and sure enough in 2021, workers moving to new employers saw higher gains than those that did not move.

For workers that have changed jobs, this will be providing some respite against the rising cost of living. Nonetheless, the overwhelming majority of workers have stayed in their job and will therefore suffer more from the cost of living crisis as wages fall in real terms.

The employers’ perspective

Could the rise in resignations be contributing to rising labor shortages? The latter half of 2021 saw many reports of firms facing difficulties filling vacancies, raising the possibility that rising resignations could be causing these recruitment difficulties. We found that there was a higher rate of resignations among workers coming from the five “shortage” sectors finding it hardest to recruit people: construction, manufacturing, accommodation, health, food, administration, and support.

However, most workers were resigning to go to new jobs within the same industry, so they are unlikely to be the root cause of employment shortages within their sectors. Instead, the reasons for recruitment difficulties differ by sector. For example, the manufacturing sector has been hit by early retirements, whereas the accommodation and food sectors are suffering from a lower inflow of younger workers.

Instead of being the cause, the increases in resignations in these five sectors are more likely to be a symptom of their labor shortages: employers “poaching” staff from rivals by offering better conditions as the economy rebounded from the depths of the pandemic. Losing staff will obviously have created additional pain for employers who were already struggling to recruit.

In sum, contrary to what some might be hoping, the so-called great resignation of 2021 has not significantly improved the career paths of workers. Workers who have been willing and able to change employers have been rewarded with improved pay, while wage growth for those who have stayed put will be slower and insufficient to offset large increases in the cost of living.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the rates of vacancies, resignations, and wage growth all slowed in the fourth quarter of 2021, which is a signal that the rebound in labor demand has faded. So if you weren’t part of the great resignation, you may already be too late.

This article by Carlos Carrillo-Tudela, Professor of Economics, University of Essex; Alex Clymo, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Essex, and David Zentler-Munro, Assistant Professor in Economics, University of Essex is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.