Stability, Paradoxically, is a Motivation for Employee Resignations

COVID-19 is a time of great instability. As one variant after another hits the global economy, many companies suffer from volatile costs associated with changing travel policies, supply chain disruptions, and clients being unable to continue business relationships. Many employees end up paying dearly for the suffering of their employers. For those unfortunate enough to be in the most volatile industries like restaurants, whole departments, workplaces, and business ecosystems have disappeared alongside jobs of individual employees.

With some parts of the economy so volatile, it is hard to believe that employment stability is an issue, but it has become one. As economic rebound from the nadir of COVID-19 infections continue, and many workers putting off returning to the workforce for continued fear of getting sick, some parts of the economy are seeing labor shortages and consequent increases in compensation. The sudden availability of so many new high-paying jobs has made many people eager to switch jobs in the middle of a pandemic, even as they cherish the employment stability that many others are not fortunate enough to have.

Indeed, even as they watch other people struggle with unemployment, some employees with stable positions are starting to see stability as a source of discontent rather than fortune. After all, COVID-19 represents misfortune only for some businesses. For many others, it is a time of opportunity, when new markets open up with new demand, triggering thoughts about what else can be done for higher returns than one's current job. That sense of opportunity cost of stability is often framed in the concept of "a lack of professional growth" among those seeking greener pastures.

That temptation to look for greener pastures is pushed along by the evolution of employment culture sped up by COVID-19. The prevalence of remote work means many employees are not safely out of sight of their managers, enabling them to discreetly take up second jobs unbeknownst to their primary employers. And as companies suffer continued labor shortage and retention issues, they are seeing the need to acquiesce to employee demand for flexibility at work such as flex hours and extended leaves. Employers suffering from high labor costs may even encourage employees to take up second jobs.

Many employees are keen to take up opportunities to dip their toes into those greener pastures without risking the stability of their primary breadwinning employment. Employment stability may not be exciting for career growth, but it is for financial stability, a necessary condition to venture into the unknown. If one can take up a second job while working remotely, many may say "why not?" And when they liked what they saw in terms of mental and financial fulfillment in their second jobs, many may very much be inclined to make the second job their first.

Such a situation presents a tough predicament for managers. Employees getting accustomed to remote work means that efforts to force people back to the office may end up with a significant turnover. But if they continue to be relatively hands-off with employees working at home, it is difficult to visually make sure that people are actually focused on generating value for the employer rather than looking for and/or working on projects for other ones. This is especially true for companies for which work tends to be less collaborative and more independent in nature, in which one person going AWOL does not necessarily affect other people's day-to-day work.

Among employees working in stable positions, that sort of "it seems no one is checking up on me" can lead the mind to wonder. If the consequences of not being always available to answer emails or instant messages are next to nothing as long as deadlines are met and the quality of work is suitable, boredom with the everyday task of sitting nine-to-six by oneself at home sets in rather quickly. Even if they know other jobs may entail a similar sort of independent, work-from-home arrangement, they may simply get a kick from working on work with different content.

The solution, obviously, is centered on how better to communicate amongst employees, but it is difficult to grasp that sense of balance between micromanagement and not pushing people over the edge. In a day and age that quitting is so easy and jobs so plentiful among at least employees in some industries, employers breathing down one's neck may not be the kind of excitement employees are looking for to jolt them out of the stability-originated boredom with their current positions. For the employers mindful of labor shortages and keen on minimizing turnover, what to do with those ungrateful of stability will continue to be a real conundrum.