Would you quit your job because the company you work for is not sufficiently committed to equal pay, or is not taking steps to reduce its carbon footprint?
For some workers, especially younger ones, these demands are not just a passing whim. In fact, they are becoming more and more crucial.
In a recent survey of 4,000 British and American workers by Opinium, a third of employees say they have already left a company because its values were too far removed from their own, and almost half would consider doing so.
Is this proof that this approach is starting to gain momentum? Either way, a term has now been coined to describe this behaviour: “conscious quitting.”
In concrete terms, “conscious quitting” refers to the idea of wanting to part ways with a company whose activities and practices go against your personal values, whether they are ecological, political or ethical.
First described by Paul Polman, climate and equalities campaigner and former CEO of Unilever, who commissioned the above-mentioned survey, this phenomenon highlights the growing scale of workers’ desire to make commitments through their job choices.
“Any CEO who thinks they will win the talent wars by offering a bit more money, some extra home-working and a gym membership is going to be disappointed. The era of conscious quitting is on the way,” Polman explains in the foreword to his research.
The quest for meaning at work is most often illustrated through ecological values, which are increasingly coveted by employees.
A survey conducted by Unédic and Elabe published early this month reveals that 44% of French workers would consider company practices running counter to the ecological transition as a reason to leave, while 48% consider this reason sufficient to put them off applying for a job.
These opinions converge with those expressed in another survey, published a year ago by Audencia and Jobs That Make Sense, in which 57% of respondents explained they wanted to “contribute to the challenges of the ecological and/or social transition” through their job.
The global health crisis triggered by the pandemic has acted as a powerful catalyst on changing people’s attitudes to and perceptions of work. In the space of a few months, new words and expressions have been coined to describe phenomena that reflect a profound transformation in our relationship with work.
First, there came “quiet quitting,” this silent resignation that involves staying in a job but doing the strict minimum to make sure that work doesn’t affect your mental health.
Then there came “rage applying”, when people fire off job applications after a disappointing professional experience in the hope of finding a job or a company that truly deserves them!
Then there’s “quick quitting,” which means never staying too long in a company to make sure you don’t succumb to boreout. The aim is to always feel useful, motivated and, above all, to never get bored.