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This article forms part of the archives of Business Insider South Africa, which was published as a partnership between News24 and Insider Inc between 2018 and 2023.
- A more muted version of the global "Great Resignation" is playing out in South Africa.
- More than 36% of all terminations in 2021 were due to resignations, considerably higher than rates recorded prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Remchannel, Old Mutual's reward management platform.
- And whereas the search for better pay is still a big factor, skilled employees are looking for flexible work structures and personal development opportunities while escaping toxic culture in the workplace.
More South Africans are resigning from their jobs in search of a healthier company culture and better work-life balance as opposed to just wanting a higher salary, as was the case before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The traditional workplace has undergone extreme changes over the past two years. Offices have stood empty as employees work from home. Mass retrenchments have swept across businesses looking to cut costs and survive the pandemic-induced downturn.
An unexpected consequence of the pandemic has also emerged. Dubbed the "Great Resignation", employees are leaving their jobs in droves. The phenomenon is most noticeable in the United States, where more than 4.5 million people quit in March, signalling record-breaking resignation numbers. In the United Kingdom, the rate of people moving from job to job reached an all-time high at the end of 2021.
South Africa has also seen an uptick in resignations, but the trend is different to that experienced overseas. Given the country's record-high unemployment rate and a workforce dominated by unskilled labour, increased employee turnover in South Africa is limited to certain sectors and is far more subdued.
See also | You're more likely to get a raise in SA this year – but not one big enough to beat inflation
Still, South African companies are recording higher resignation rates compared to before the pandemic, driven by an exodus of skilled professionals, according to Remchannel, Old Mutual's reward management platform.
More than 36% of all terminations in 2021 were due to resignations, higher than the 28% to 32% seen before Covid-19. This data was gathered from the human resources departments of 82 South African companies surveyed by Remchannel.
The top reason for resignations prior to the pandemic was the search for better remuneration. Leaving for higher pay elsewhere is still a leading determining factor but now, so is the search for better career prospects outside of higher pay.
"Prior to Covid, most of our research [shows that] the main driver was remuneration, and while it's still most certainly a big driver of why employees are leaving their jobs, there are several other factors that are now being quoted as reasons for resignations," said René Richter, managing director of Remchannel.
"The employee value proposition [EVP] is really changing [and] employee loyalty is declining."
Almost 60% of respondents indicated that they had resigned in search of a better EVP, not including remuneration or higher pay. Most reasons quoted relate to flexible work structures, personal development, and escaping toxic culture in the workplace.
"I do believe that culture [and] trust is part of this EVP and that one must not discount some of the softer issues in the employment relationship because they are very highly valued by employees, specifically, given the fact that most of them would've been exposed to a lot of trauma over the last two years," said Richter.
Similar findings have been reported by the recently published PwC Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey. Employees who are most likely to look for another job plan to do so because they don't find their current job fulfilling, feel they can't be their true self at work, don't feel their team cares about them, and feel like their managers don't listen to them.
"Managers can create the right work environment and leadership model, and they can remove the most burdensome aspects of employees' lives – excessive bureaucracy, points of friction, administrative tasks that sap the joy from work," noted the PwC survey.
"Managers can also invest to upskill their people, give them greater autonomy over their work and take other steps to empower them."
Results of Remchannel's salary and wage movements survey also revealed that most employees weren't keen on heading back to the office, supporting the sentiment that inflexible businesses were at greater risk of more resignations.
"There are only very few employees that are happy to be back at the office," said Richter.
The cost impactions for companies that are losing critical staff to resignations are severe. Based on Remchannel's survey, almost 40,000 employees resigned from 82 companies in the past year. The costs associated with filling those vacant positions – recruitment and HR processes – total almost R24 billion.
