The “C’est mon boulot” show on France Info

During the year-end holidays of 2022, the “C’est mon boulot” (It’s My Job) program broadcasted on France Info delved into “the great resignation.” Over the course of two weeks, the program featured testimonies from those who chose to leave their jobs following the pandemic. I had the pleasure of being invited by Philippe Duport to the first episode of this series to analyze the phenomenon.

Originating in the United States, it represents a wave of resignations that surpassed even the one experienced in the 2000s. In the second and third quarters of 2021, one year after the start of the pandemic, the country witnessed a record-breaking resignation rate, with over 4% of the population resigning, double the rates recorded before the pandemic (Liu, 2021; Pressman, Aaron, Gardizy, Anissa, 2021). By the end of 2021, the resignation rate stood at 3.0%, its highest level since 2000 (DARES, 2022). Similar phenomena were felt to a lesser extent in North America. In the second quarter of 2021, Canada saw a job vacancy rate of 4.6%, the highest since 2015, when these data became available (Statistics Canada, 2021). The same trend was observed in Europe, where in France, for example, the number of resignations among permanent contract employees increased by 10.4% in June and 19.4% in July in mid-2021 compared to the same period in 2019 (DARES, 2021). At the beginning of 2022, the resignation rate was 2.7%, representing the highest level recorded since the 2007-2008 financial crisis (its highest level was 2.9% in early 2008).

Most of these resignations can be explained by both opportunistic factors (DARES, 2021) and more profound reflection. The economic recovery accompanying the gradual exit from the pandemic led to the reopening of certain sectors such as tourism, hospitality, and catering. Jobs that were put on hold during the pandemic reappeared, accompanied by job creation. As a result, in some sectors, the balance between job supply and demand reversed, allowing many people to improve their employment conditions by changing companies. However, some changes in professional situations appear to be the result of deeper reflection. Acting as a pause that facilitated the maturation of a new project or accelerating and realizing an underlying idea (Alfonsi and Segon, 2022), the COVID-19 pandemic led some individuals to more extreme and long-lasting career changes.

Program Reference

“La grande démission” a déjà fait 520 000 départs en France depuis la fin du premier trimestre. C’est mon boulot, France Info. Émission du 19 décembre 2022.