The Great Resignation: Why People Are Leaving Their Jobs In Growing Numbers

A record 4.3 million workers in America quit their jobs in August.

Anthony Klotz coined this ongoing phenomenon "The Great Resignation."

Klotz is an organizational psychologist at Texas A&M University.

In part, he says, the pandemic has made workers reevaluate what they are actually getting out of their jobs.

"During the pandemic, because there was a lot of death and illness and lockdowns, we really had the time and the motivation to sit back and say, do I like the trajectory of my life? Am I pursuing a life that brings me well-being?" Klotz said.

Employers are also having to rethink what their employees really need.

NPR's Audie Cornish spoke with Laszlo Bock, co-founder and CEO of the human resources company Humu, about the basic human need for respect.

"You know, in the pandemic, people have talked a lot about essential workers, but we actually treat them as essential jobs," said Bock. "We treat the workers as quite replaceable."

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