TRUE OR FALSE. Employment: is France really facing a phenomenon of “great resignation”? – LaDepeche.fr

the essential Since the last quarter of 2021, more than a million French people have resigned. If the figure has been increasing steadily for several years, it does not reflect a “Great resignation” in the US as explained by Dares in its report on the subject. 523,000 people resigned in France in the first quarter of 2022, including 469,000 on permanent contracts. In the last quarter of 2021, they were already nearly 518,000. This is a great first in France, the phenomenon of “great resignation” observed in the United States is quantified in France. Indeed, the report released this Friday, August 19 by the Direction of the animation of research, studies and statistics (Dares) reports a record number of resignations in the private sector. You have to go back to the first quarter of 2008, before the start of the financial crisis, to find a figure of such magnitude. However, can we really speak of a wave or a “great resignation” similar to the phenomenon that is taking place across the Atlantic? A “high” but not “unprecedented” number of resignations Since 2021, the United States has been facing an unprecedented wave of resignations: the “Big Quit”. In the first quarter, about 4 million American employees left their jobs each month. In France, according to Dares, the risk of a “big resignation” is now mentioned, without this meaning a massive exit from the labor market. This first reflects the fact that the labor market remains dynamic with the finding that the unemployment rate continues to fall. To read also: Phenomenon of “Great resignation”: “This mobility is rather a positive sign” “The number of resignations is high without being unprecedented, nor unexpected given the economic context. It reflects the dynamism of the labor market”, comments the Dares. Another element has changed the situation as the institute explains: “The bargaining power is changing in favor of employees”. A “normal” rise in the rate “The resignation rate is a cyclical indicator. It is low during crises and it increases during a recovery, all the more strongly as the economic upturn is rapid”, indicates Dares in its report. In the first quarter of 2022, the resignation rate of French employees reached 2.7%, a high figure but which remains below the rate observed just before the financial crisis of 2008-2009 (2.9%) details the institute. of statistical studies which considers that “the rise in the resignation rate appears to be normal”, in particular to be linked to the economic recovery following the Covid-19 crisis.