Toxic outcome: which companies are the first to suffer from the “great layoff”

At the start of 2021, more than 40% of employees were thinking about leaving their jobs. The year has ended, and the number of people who have left has been unprecedented. From April to September 2021, more than 24 million employees in the United States left their jobs , and this is a record figure. As the “Great Layoff” gathers momentum, executives are trying to understand the factors that are driving mass exits. More importantly, they are looking for ways to retain valuable talent.

To better understand the causes of the “great layoff” and help leaders respond effectively to what is happening, the University of Massachusetts analyzed 34 million online profiles of employees of various enterprises.

The study identified those employees who left their employer for any reason (including termination, retirement or downsizing) between April and September 2021. Data obtained from the analytical company Revelio Labs made it possible to estimate employee turnover in companies from the Culture 500 sample (which includes large, predominantly commercial firms that employ almost 25% of employees working in non-state enterprises).