People leaving jobs as part of The Great Resignation

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The Great Resignation is upon us; the high number of people who toward the end of the pandemic decided to quit their jobs.

For 53 percent of people, quitting their jobs in 2021 meant changing their occupation or field of work, according to Pew Research.

Angela Wells-Vereb, from Louisville, went through the same experience.

“I had just got my promotion not even a month before the pandemic hit,” Wells-Vereb said.

It was a job as a Project Director for career and training services, overseeing 35 people.

Wells-Vereb did this while balancing three kids with a husband, who was an ER nurse at the VA clinic in the COVID Unit.

In October 2020, her husband John Vereb died from COVID. WAVE News previously spoke with Wells-Vereb on his death.

She said she tried to keep going.

“Trying to keep up with everything in the workforce, business as usual,” Wells-Vereb said. “But also, just feeling overwhelming stress and pressure and need to just step away for a little while.”

In June 2021, she stepped away from that big job.

Molley Ricketts of Incipio Workforce Solutions recruits top talent for businesses. She said she’s never seen so many people leave their careers.

“Never, never, never in 25 years,” Ricketts said. “It’s not entry-level jobs. People with experience and senior level positions.”

Interested in why, Ricketts started doing research. She learned they all had one thing in common.

“It was when their personal and professional words collided,” Ricketts said. “So, the stress was at a different magnitude. They couldn’t manage any longer. Something had to give.”

This time of Great Resignation, as many are calling it, has many people reevaluating their lives, their priorities, and determining what they are passionate about.

After nine months off, Wells-Vereb is ready to get back to it. She’s accepted a new job but she’s not in a supervisory role.

“(It’s) a different pace,” Wells-Vereb said. “That’s what I wanted.”

If someone is thinking of changing jobs, Ricketts has some advice. People should look at their knowledge and skills and determine what is transferable into another role.

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