“I remember saying to my husband, give me a month or two to get over this because I'm really sad. Kristin White, 40, from North Carolina, US, went through a period of “grieving” after quitting her job as a health and wellness coach. He was left with “crippling anxiety” that meant he couldn’t sleep for a week.Ĭomplex emotions are also common if there are difficult circumstances behind your decision to quit. Quitting meant selling his car and moving back home with his parents as well as giving up the only job he knew. Personal trainer Jackson fell into the first category. Two common responses are spiralling anxiety over whether quitting is the right decision, or freezing with fear at the thought of moving forward into an unknown future. “Emotionally and neurologically, the brain doesn't like uncertainty or ambiguity.” On top of this, “if you quit a job and don't have something else lined up, that is very psychologically uncomfortable for the average person,” says Doman.
The negative feelings the brain can cycle through after quitting can be significant, with shame, guilt, fear and a sense of failure all common reactions. These judgements can cause strain: quitting without a concrete plan also leaves people more likely to suffer feelings of emotional distress. The only way to mitigate this stigma was to offer proof that they left their job due to external factors, rather than quitting voluntarily. While people who quit for better opportunities benefit from staying on a recognised career trajectory, a 2018 study showed HR professionals and the broader public perceived people who had left employment as altogether less competent, less warm and less hireable from the moment they became jobless. Research suggests that quitting stigma most affects people who leave a role without another job to go to. In other words, all qualities a quitter doesn’t seem to have. This idea plays into the popular narrative that the surest route to career success is hard work, persistence and even a willingness to suffer for a better end result. ‘Quitting’ often comes with negative connotations, both from the people around us and from ourselves, even if we have good cause.īut the upheaval caused by the pandemic – and the sheer number of potential quitters – could help us remove the stigma around resignation, and reframe it as a more positive choice.ĭoman says social stigma around quitters fundamentally comes from “a very old school idea that when you get into a job or career it's for life – and that's something that just isn't true, or based in reality anymore”. Whatever the motivator, many who choose to leave their current roles will find the process emotionally challenging. There are multiple reasons for this trend, from people re-evaluating what they want from their careers during the pandemic, to the stress of juggling home and work life, or even discontent with employers. There’s even a name for it: the Great Resignation. In fact, 41% of all workers are thinking about handing in their notice, according to a recent global survey by Microsoft. In the US, a record number of workers quit their jobs in April 2021, and similar waves are anticipated in nations including the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Still, despite these factors, indications are that many people want to leave their jobs. For many people, their job is heavily tied to their identity and their self-efficacy”. Faced with the prospect of quitting, Denver, Colorado-based organisational psychologist Melissa Doman, MA, says, “typically speaking, people still self-criticise. Unless you’re walking into a glossy, new, upgraded role, leaving a job to head in a different direction can be hard, upsetting and even leave people feeling like a failure. I was already anxious at having quit and their remarks put more doubt in my head.” “They thought that I was rushing into a bad decision. “My boss thought that I was making a rash decision and letting my emotions get the better of me,” he says. “Being a personal trainer was all I knew.” He also found other people’s opinions hard to handle. Jackson had spent eight years building a thriving career and a loyal client base. I felt that If I hung around too long, I'd miss out on a good opportunity.”īut making the decision to leave was difficult. “The gym is a busy place, and I couldn't imagine it being as popular again. “I just knew that I had to transition to an online way of working,” says Jackson, 33, from Manchester. As soon as gyms in the UK went into lockdown in 2020, personal trainer James Jackson quit his job.
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