The No-Longer-Great Resignation
The so-called “Great Resignation” was a catchy designation, but now, it’s no longer relevant. Job market analysts say the once-prevalent trend — during which nearly 50 million people quit their jobs over a two-year period — appears to be fading.
“The ‘Great Resignation,’ by really any measure, is over,” Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor who studies labor economics at Stanford University, told CNN in June.
During the pandemic, the United States saw an unprecedented number of workers quitting their jobs and citing such factors as burnout, job dissatisfaction and child care or elder care needs which worked to many employees’ advantage, as they were able to find jobs with better pay and better benefits. Now, however, workers appear to be staying put, thanks in part to factors such as rising interest rates, inflation and mass layoffs in certain industries.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people quitting their jobs has been declining since last spring. CNN reported that the most recent data shows that the number of workers quitting dropped by 49,000 between March and April of this year.
BedTimes Starters – Tarnished Golden Years?
At what age do you expect to retire, and how much of a nest egg do you think you’ll need to be able to do so comfortably?
The latest research from The Harris Poll, conducted in partnership with Northwestern Mutual, suggests that the members of Generation Z — those born between about 1995 and 2012 — may not have a realistic view of when they’ll be able to retire and what it will take financially to do so.
The survey of 2,740 American adults found that Gen Z workers, on average, expect to retire at age 60. By contrast, baby boomers expect to work until they’re 71 years old.
Gen Z workers also expect to live to 100, meaning they expect to have approximately 40 years of blissful retirement.
The golden years won’t be so golden, however, if they’re not adequately prepared financially. According to the survey, Gen Z expects to need only $1.2 million to fund that 40-year retirement, the lowest nest egg estimate among the four adult generations surveyed.
BedTimes Starters – Picking Your Playlist
If your workday had a soundtrack, what would it be?
Would it be something positive, like “Walking on Sunshine” or “I Gotta Feeling” or “Don’t Worry Be Happy”? Or maybe you skew in the opposite direction — say, for example, “Rainy Days and Mondays” or “Take This Job and Shove It.”
Whatever your preference, Inc.com contributor Minda Zetlin says the type of music you listen to at work can increase your productivity. A piece she wrote for the website in June offered four tips — from herself and Harvard brain researcher Srini Pillay — for choosing your playlist:
- Choose familiar songs over unfamiliar ones. “I’ve found that familiar music, or songs that you enjoy and know best, are the most effective for maximizing concentration,” Pillay said.
- Complement your mood. “The key,” Zetlin wrote, “is to choose music that expresses the way you feel, not the way you hope to feel.” If you’re feeling kind of sad, look for a melancholy song rather than something peppy.
- Look for music without words. Particularly if you’re reading or writing, music with lyrics can be much more disruptive than instrumental music, Zetlin said.
“Which of these methods will work for you?” Zetlin asked. “People respond to music in different ways, so it’s hard to say. But research suggests that music really can help you focus. So, listening to music while you work may well be worth a try.”
