The Great Resignation slows … a little

This week, we got the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey – JOLTS for short. It showed the share of workers quitting jobs ticked down from the historic highs of the Great Resignation earlier this year. With fears of recession looming, could this era of intensive job hopping be slowing down?

Higher quit rates are a sign of worker confidence, said Julia Pollak, chief economist at job site Zip Recruiter. “When there are more jobs out there, it’s more likely that you’ll take a leap and apply for a new one,” she said.

Now, Pollak said, the mood might be shifting. While the job market is still quite strong, unemployment claims have crept up and we’ve seen layoffs in the mortgage industry.

“Quits fell 41% in real estate and rental and leasing, and that is a sign that workers in that industry, they’re going to hang tight and keep the jobs that they’ve got,” she said.

But most workers aren’t watching macroeconomic trends, said organizational psychologist Denise Rousseau at Carnegie Mellon.

“It’s more likely job-related behavior like quitting is related to social information. What are your peers … What are they doing with regard to their job search?” she said.

She added that a slowdown in quits could be due to better working conditions as employers compete for staff.