As Great Resignation Fades, Workers Opt to Stay Put in Tightening Labor Market

May 19, 2023 at 09:05 AM EDT

25% of US employees believe they would struggle to find a new job if they lost theirs

Women feel more secure in their current jobs than men, even if they are worried about uncertain economy

One in four US employees said they would struggle to find a new job if they lost their current one, according to Qualtrics (Nasdaq: XM) research that offers another sign The Great Resignation is fading into the rearview mirror as the job market tightens.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics data released this week showed a continuing steady decline in the number of employees who quit their jobs this spring. As early as last fall, nearly 40% of employees reported increased pressure to produce results at work, a sign of the shifting labor market.

After months of rising wages and historically high rates of job turnover, a recent Qualtrics study of 3,000 employees showed signs that employees are willing to put in extra effort to shore up their security at their current job, rather than testing the waters in search of higher pay or better benefits. Only 14% of employees said the economy does not impact the way they think about their employment.

The shift marks a sea change in the US labor market, especially for white collar employees, where employees have had the upper hand for months. Now, as layoff announcements ripple across the business pages and the debt ceiling debate threatens economic stability, employees are not confident they would land on their feet if they changed jobs.

“In an uncertain economy, job security is king,” said Qualtrics Chief Workplace Psychologist Dr. Benjamin Granger. “More employees staying put eases some of the pressure on employers after two years of worker shortages.”

Leaders continue to be in greater demand. Individual contributors – those who do not manage any employees – were most likely to say they think they would struggle to find a new job – 25% said they would. Only 12% of senior leaders believed they would struggle to find a new job.

Men are much more likely to be confident they’d have their pick of jobs if they needed to make a change (47% vs 31% for women), but 41% of women said they feel very secure in their jobs, even if they indicated they’re concerned about the economy.

About Qualtrics

Qualtrics, the leader and creator of the experience management category, is a cloud-native software provider that helps organizations quickly identify and resolve points of friction across all digital and human touchpoints in their business – so they can retain their best customers and employees, protect their revenue, and drive profitability. More than 18,750 organizations around the world use Qualtrics’s advanced AI to listen, understand, and take action. Qualtrics uses its vast universe of experience data to form the largest database of human sentiment in the world. Qualtrics is co-headquartered in Provo, Utah and Seattle, and operates out of 28 offices globally. To learn more, please visit qualtrics.com.