‘Rage applying’ is real and easier than ever – are your employees about to jump ship?

Rage applying – the act of sending out multiple job applications in defiance of a current employer – isn’t exactly a new phenomenon – employees have always looked around for jobs and even applied while still employed.

With ChatGPT and online job platforms making applying for a job a potentially minutes-long process, and a persistent talent shortage to contend with, rage applying is a real problem employers need to be addressing, says one academic who works in the field.

“Rage isn’t new,” says Trish Reay, professor and vice-dean of the Alberta School of Business, adding that unaddressed emotions in the workplace are a main driver behind rage applying.

Rage applying stems from unaddressed emotions in the workplace

A recent study in the States found that 90 percent of surveyed employees rage applied in the last six months – indicating that perhaps it is a trend that should be taken seriously.

The study, done by Bold Ltd., interviewed over 1,200 employees, and found that 88 percent said they’ve experienced burnout which has led to depression about their job and increased anxiety and stress.

Almost half (47 percent) said they think about quitting at least once per week.

“I think that we don't pay enough attention to [emotions],” says Reay. “Or, there's a tendency to say, ‘Well, you shouldn't be emotional at work.’ But that's just not possible because employees and managers, they're human, and an essential part of being human is that you have emotions.”

Reay says that an act such as rage applying can actually be anger channelled into action for an employee who feels they have no other avenue to express discontent.

“In a supportive kind of work environment, if things are feeling oppressive or wrong or bad, you have someone you can go and talk to, and in fact there's lots of ways in which management is encouraging staff to talk about things early,” Reay says.

“To come and ask people frequently, ‘How is your work going? Do you have the supports that you need when you feel like you have too much work? What are some of the ways that you manage that, because we know that our workplace has ups and downs’ … But when people don't feel that, they feel they don't have very many options, and they may think their only option is to quit.”

Build a positive organizational culture to prevent rage applying

A Canadian study last year found that out of 2,000 Canadian employees surveyed over half (51 percent) said a toxic work culture was the main reason they thought about quitting their jobs.

Lack of work-life balance (23 percent) and unmanageable workload (17 percent) were also listed as main reasons respondents rage applied.

Reay explains that employers can make the mistake of taking employees for granted, leading to even their best or key people growing resentful or angry.

“Employers should always be thinking about the well-being of their staff,” Reay says. “Doing their best to have an environment where people don't feel that rage, where people feel like they're appreciated, they have a voice, they can participate in decision making.”

Talking should play a bigger role in management, Reay says, as opposed to electronic monitoring or rigorous rules which erode employee trust. Therefore, establishing a “routine of open conversations” should be a priority for team leaders and HR.

“Managers can be really busy, and they mean well, but it's an important part of your work as a manager to be talking to staff, and that can mean different things in different places,” says Reay.

“But that that goes a really long way, and I think we forget sometimes that that is really important, and it's even harder when people work from distance.”

Acknowledgement and recognition go a long way to preventing rage applying

Part of those conversations include whether or not the employee is in the right role in the first place, Reay says, as sometimes an employee who rage applies should have quit earlier but was waiting for an instigating event.

It is also the employee’s responsibility to ensure they are in the right place for them, but employers can help by being available for those conversations.

“That should be a piece of what active, quality employees are considering all the time. But that means the onus is then on the employer to have the right kind of environment to keep engaged employees,” says Reay.

“You want to be encouraging them to grow to be the kind of employee that you need.”

Sometimes just a simple “thank you” is all an employee needs to bring them back from the edge of rage applying, says Reay, and acknowledging when an employee has gone above and beyond.

“When you're working with people, it goes a really long way to acknowledge that we know everyone has been working really hard and we had these deadlines and we want to say thank you,” she says.

“In terms of appreciating and keeping high quality employees, I think that it's pretty much across the board that people like to be spoken to. They like to be known.”