'Employers may be benefiting from unusually low turnover rates, but they shouldn't be complacent'
Employers are being warned of a looming "wave of revenge quitting" as employees' pent-up resentment over feeling stuck in their current job boils over.
Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor, issued the warning as he noted employees' growing frustration at being stuck in their careers amid a soft job market.
According to Glassdoor data, 65% of 3,390 employees currently feel stuck in their careers, with most coming from the tech (73%) and advertising (70%) sectors.
This is also reflected in the decline of quit rates in the United States to 1.9%, marking the first time since June 2020 that it has fallen below the two-per-cent threshold.
"For the time being, employers may be benefiting from unusually low turnover rates, but they shouldn't be complacent — a wave of revenge quitting is on the horizon," Zhao warned.
The growing frustration among employees can also be seen in recent trends, such as "quiet quitting," according to Zhao.
"As workers feel stuck, pent-up resentment boils under the surface and employee disengagement rises," he noted.
In fact, Glassdoor found that employee satisfaction over career opportunities has declined to 3.67 in 2024 from 3.79 in 2022.
"In the new year, the pressure from this resentment is going to keep growing. The longer the job market remains soft, the more workers are forced to stay even if it's time for them to move on," Zhao said.
"Once the job market heats up again, that will open a relief valve to release the bottled-up pressure, by giving workers the option to quit in favour of better options on the market."
