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this morning, I watched a video that was put on YouTube by CNBC. And it was, it was it was titled, why Millennials are leaving six figure tech jobs. And it was a pretty well done video explaining sort of, you know, this great resignation, and that there are 40% of people this year in 2021, are considering leaving their positions for something else. And this seems to be big news to people.

And as somebody who has been a hiring manager in education for a long time, I would argue that this has been going on for a very long time. And I think it’s just been brought to the forefront now people are actually paying attention to this. And it’s not just millennials, it’s Gen X and baby boomers two, that have been looking for a little bit more meaning in their lives. And I really just honestly think that the pandemic has really brought this to the forefront.

Alright. And here’s the reason why. So over the last, you know, 1516 years, I’ve done a lot of hiring, and I’ve done a lot of hiring of technology professionals. And they’re people who are, you know, in the, in many of the positions in which I’m hiring for, is I’m hiring people to become technology instructors, and whether they’re in it, software development, even things like some of the trades, you know, some of the some of the very technical highly technical professions. A

nd so when I’m when I’m working with somebody, when I’m interviewing somebody who they have no teaching experience, no teaching background, they did not, they’re not teaching at like a community college. They haven’t taught any, like online classes as an adjunct instructor or anything like that. They’re really looking for that first break into teaching. And I’ll ask them, I’ll say, Well, what is it that has piqued your interest about teaching? Why is it that you want to teach and the the overwhelming response that I get now you have to remember that people are, you know, they’re in a job interview, they’re hoping that I’m going to give them a job. But you know, so the, they’ll frame it in this way that they’ll say things like that they want to give back, and that they want to help form the next generation of technology professionals.

But then when you start getting in to the, you know, the meat of what they’re really saying, and in conversations, some of the other things, some of the other reasons come out, and oftentimes, it’s that they’re looking for a more stable schedule, they’ve got a family at home, they’ve got kids, they’ve got grandkids, they want to be around, they are completely over being on call, and, you know, being being at their employer’s beck and call 20 473 65. Just because, you know, technology is, technology is running, you know, every day, all day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, your kid’s birthday, like it’s running all the time, right.

And so, um, you know, they’re, they’re, they’re really more interested in having a more of a work life balance.

Another thing that I saw a lot were consultants who were traveling, every you know, they get on an airplane, every Sunday night, they’d work on site, you know, Monday through Thursday, and then Thursday night or Friday morning, they’re back on an airplane to come back home. And while the pay is very well, it pays very well and they love it. But after a certain amount of time in your life changes.

Again, you’ve got kids, you’ve got grandkids, things like that, things start to change. So they start looking for other opportunities that they can use their technology skills, but looking for a little bit more of a stable schedule. And so, you know, there’s a lot of focus right now, on this great resignation.

And that millennials are leaving six figure tech jobs, things like that.

But again, I’ll argue that this has been this has been happening for a while, even if you look at you know, some of these professions where there’s a lot of a shortage of skills, you know, most of tech, there’s a shortage of skills. And people, you know, when once they get this point where it’s, you know, it’s no longer beneficial for their families. It’s not that they’re necessarily leaving tech or leaving, you know, to go into something else completely, right. But they’re jumping ship and they’re going to work for another company.

But oftentimes, what I see as a hiring manager in higher education was people that were coming and saying, you know, they wanted to feel like they were part of something bigger than them, that they were, you know, really contributing more to the world than just sitting at a desk and maybe just writing code or you know, you know, whatever it is that they’re doing, they just wanted to have a little bit more of an impact.

And so, again, I’m arguing that this great resignation has been going on for a while. I think that the pandemic just kind of brought it to the forefront of people’s minds and we’re now paying attention to it, collecting data on it, that kind of thing. So there’s my thoughts and opinions.