WEBVTT - People Are Broadcasting Their Resignations Online and Finding Community With Others Doing the Same

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<v Speaker 1>It's Friday, December seventeen. I'm Oscar Ramires from the Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>We've been seeing a lot of action with the Great Resignation,

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<v Speaker 1>as people quit their jobs for better opportunities. But people

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<v Speaker 1>aren't just leaving their broadcasting it to social media and

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<v Speaker 1>finding a community with others who have done the same. Traditionally,

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<v Speaker 1>career coaches wouldn't recommend speaking ill of former employers online,

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<v Speaker 1>but all the rules have changed. Emma Goldberg, reporter at

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<v Speaker 1>the New York Times, joins us for more. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>joining us, Emma, thanks for having me on. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>throughout the pandemic and the latter half, we've been talking

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<v Speaker 1>about the Great Resignation. You know, a lot of people

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<v Speaker 1>leaving their jobs, moving on. Hopefully it's bigger, bigger and

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<v Speaker 1>better things. But what we're seeing in a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>cases is these big public displays of these resignations, people

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<v Speaker 1>broadcasting that they quit, you know, going out on social

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<v Speaker 1>media and you know, letting everybody know, or you know,

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<v Speaker 1>even videos of how they did it, different things like that.

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<v Speaker 1>I know career coaches probably don't feel the best about

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<v Speaker 1>those tactics. But you know, all the rules have kind

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<v Speaker 1>of changed. So Emma, tell us a little bit about it. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's it's a great question. So I think, as you mentioned,

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<v Speaker 1>more and more people are starting to pick up on

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that people are leaving their jobs. So the

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<v Speaker 1>quitting rate, which is the percentage of workers who are

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<v Speaker 1>voluntarily leaving their jobs, reached three this fall, which is

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<v Speaker 1>which is really high. There was one and fourteen hospitality workers,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, quit their job in August. But I think

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<v Speaker 1>what's notable about this moment is that it's not just

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<v Speaker 1>at the quitting rate is high. It's also really visible

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<v Speaker 1>because people are blasting it on social media when they

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<v Speaker 1>leave their jobs. To that point, right, uh, Or I

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned the rules have kind of changed. You know, that's

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<v Speaker 1>not necessarily a lot of what career coaches would probably

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<v Speaker 1>want or really wasn't what was happening a lot. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>you never wanted to disparage the company that you left

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<v Speaker 1>or a former boss or something, only because you know

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<v Speaker 1>it might look bad for the next employer somebody espec

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<v Speaker 1>Now with social media, right, a lot of employers go

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<v Speaker 1>back and check those feeds. You know, if there's kind

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<v Speaker 1>of signs of troublemaking or anything like that. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>they might want to steer away from hiring you. That's

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<v Speaker 1>exactly right. Some of the career coaches that I spoke

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<v Speaker 1>with are pretty weary about this trend because they noted that, um,

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<v Speaker 1>first of all, the labor shortage is not gonna last forever.

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<v Speaker 1>At some point, jobs are going to be in higher

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<v Speaker 1>demands than workers and the others who that. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>regardless of whether workers are in demand or not, bosses

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<v Speaker 1>and hiring managers are still most likely searching people on

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<v Speaker 1>social media before hiring them, and they're often going to

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<v Speaker 1>be a little bit skeptical if they saw that person

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<v Speaker 1>posting about a former employer or a former boss. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>but for them, for the employers you mentioned also to

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<v Speaker 1>you know that it's this tough balance, right, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>do I hire a dicey person maybe, or do I

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<v Speaker 1>risk the burnout of others in the company. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>a key thing, right because these staffing shortages obviously put

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<v Speaker 1>more pressure on the remaining employees. You know, if we

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<v Speaker 1>if we keep that shortage and we keep that pressure

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<v Speaker 1>up on everybody else, is the burnout worse? Rather than

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<v Speaker 1>hiring somebody who might have posted something on social media

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<v Speaker 1>that's exactly right. It's a tough kind of between a

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<v Speaker 1>rock and a hard place for employers. But some of

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<v Speaker 1>the experts that I spoke with said that at the

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<v Speaker 1>end of the day, right now, what they're most worried

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<v Speaker 1>about is these staffing shortages that are going to lead

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<v Speaker 1>to burnout among their employees, and so sometimes they're willing

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<v Speaker 1>to go for those slightly dicier hires, even if it's

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<v Speaker 1>someone who, let's say, posted a TikTok ranting about a

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<v Speaker 1>former employer or former boss or the piece you profiled

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<v Speaker 1>Gabby n l O she left her real estate job.

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<v Speaker 1>I think she posted something to TikTok so her followers

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<v Speaker 1>could see how did her story go? Yeah, Gabby Um

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<v Speaker 1>is a really fun voice in this piece, and she's

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<v Speaker 1>someone who was working this really corporate job. She was

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<v Speaker 1>waking up every morning before five am and then going

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<v Speaker 1>on this commute to the office where she didn't always

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<v Speaker 1>necessarily feel like she was getting um the fulfillment and

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<v Speaker 1>the meaning and the benefits that she wanted. So February

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<v Speaker 1>of the pandemics we quit her job. She had about

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<v Speaker 1>ten thousand dollars in savings and then she posted a

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<v Speaker 1>TikTok about it um what I'm calling a quit talk,

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<v Speaker 1>where she talked about why she decided to quit, and

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<v Speaker 1>it really resonated with followers, and she ended up starting

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<v Speaker 1>a podcast called Corporate Quitter that's kind of cheerleading other

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<v Speaker 1>people who are quitting their jobs as well. Did you

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<v Speaker 1>did she get another job? Or is the podcast the

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<v Speaker 1>only thing she does right now? Because the only reason

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<v Speaker 1>why I asked that is, like, you know, then there

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<v Speaker 1>was no danger really in posting that TikTok if she

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<v Speaker 1>changed career course, you know, she's making money elsewhere, so

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<v Speaker 1>it would be interesting to see that part of it.

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<v Speaker 1>I think you're pointing to something really important, which is,

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<v Speaker 1>on the one hand, right now you have you have

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<v Speaker 1>career coaches kind of urging people to make snabby choices.

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<v Speaker 1>But then you have workers who are saying that over

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<v Speaker 1>the past year and a half, they've kind of questioned

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<v Speaker 1>their values, they've questioned what they want out of their

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<v Speaker 1>work and out of their working days, and they've decided

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<v Speaker 1>that they don't want to go back to corporate life.

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<v Speaker 1>So if they're posting something that kind of slams shut

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<v Speaker 1>the door behind them, they're not mad about that, and

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<v Speaker 1>they're saying they've realized that they really want more agency

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<v Speaker 1>and ownership over their careers, and in a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>cases that means creative pursuits where it's actually to your

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<v Speaker 1>benefit to build a brand by posting UM. They worsen

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<v Speaker 1>even about quitting on social media, and to your point,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, they post the stuff people are, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe tuning out some of the career coach guidance, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the things in that area, and they're finding a community

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<v Speaker 1>on social media. They're finding guidance on social media from

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<v Speaker 1>other people how they didn't and what they're doing next,

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<v Speaker 1>and you know people take those cues and and use

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<v Speaker 1>that advice as well. Yeah, that's exactly right. People are

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<v Speaker 1>giving one another advice about how to quit. I spoke

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<v Speaker 1>with UM a young woman named g G. Gonzalez who

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<v Speaker 1>left her investment management role, and she actually uses her

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<v Speaker 1>TikTok in part to kind of give people advice about

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<v Speaker 1>how they can make similar moves to what she did.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think what's an important point is that for

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<v Speaker 1>all of these people who I ended up speaking with

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<v Speaker 1>for the piece UM, the post that they make about

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<v Speaker 1>quitting are actually a really important part for them of

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<v Speaker 1>building their brands and allowing them to do the kind

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<v Speaker 1>of creative work that they want to do. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>sort of expanding their audience and um and and building

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<v Speaker 1>and amplifying the platform that they have to talk to people.

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<v Speaker 1>And and they're you know, they're owning what it means

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<v Speaker 1>to be a quitter. To them, being a quitter is

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<v Speaker 1>is cool. Emma Goldberg, reporter at the New York Times,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you very much for joining us, Thanks for having

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<v Speaker 1>me on. I'm Oscar Ramirez and this has been reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't forget that. For today's big news stories, you can

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<v Speaker 1>check me out on the daily I've podcast every Monday

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<v Speaker 1>through Friday. So follow us on I Heart Radio or

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