Millions of people around the world have quit their jobs or are planning to. Here is my advice for business leaders worried about the growing gaps in their workforce
When “retention” becomes a buzzword, you know something has shifted in the world of work. You hear a lot about retention – and its shiny cousin “incentivisation” – at the moment, often coupled with the word “talent”, as if Dave from accounts might issue a rider demanding baskets of newborn spaniels and bowls of blue tropical Skittles before he deigns to tackle this month’s payroll.
I like it. It’s always interesting when the balance of power shifts in a relationship – and it feels as if that is the case now. We are probably too close to the “great resignation” – the term coined by the US academic Anthony Klotz for the wave of pandemic “quits” – to understand it properly, but it shows signs of being more than a blip.
Emma Beddington is a Guardian columnist. Adrian Chiles is away
