IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v10y2023i1d10.1057_s41599-023-02087-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The moral economy of the great resignation

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Varavallo

    (University of Turin
    University of Turin)

  • Giulia Scarpetti

    (University of Turin)

  • Filippo Barbera

    (University of Turin
    Collegio Carlo Alberto)

Abstract

The “Great Resignation” or “The Big Quit” represents a significant shift in people’s importance of employment. In September 2021, U.S. Department of Labor data revealed that 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs, an increase of over 1.13 million from September 2020. This study aims to explore the socio-psychological reasons behind the Great Resignation and potential future shifts in how people view work in their lives. A data collection of 955 highly rated posts from the r/antiwork subreddit was analyzed using the BERTopic method to semantically examine the posts into identifiable topics from February 2020 to February 2022. Subsequently, the moral economy framework was used to investigate these topics, classifying the reasons into three dimensions: ‘Work and Employment,’ which reflects organizational factors, ‘Social Justice and Activism,’ which includes community-level considerations, and ‘Health, Well-being, and Lifestyle,’ which relates to individual circumstances. The study reveals a ‘vocabulary of motives,’ including flexibility, meaningful work, social responsibility, and self-care, showcasing the interconnectedness across individual, community, and organizational dimensions. This evidence suggests an ongoing significant transformation in societal importance and understanding of work. These findings shed light on the profound shift in work values, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the Great Resignation phenomenon, and have far-reaching implications for organizations and policymakers.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Varavallo & Giulia Scarpetti & Filippo Barbera, 2023. "The moral economy of the great resignation," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:10:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-023-02087-x
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-023-02087-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-023-02087-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-023-02087-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aleksandra Kuzior & Karolina Kettler & Łukasz Rąb, 2022. "Great Resignation—Ethical, Cultural, Relational, and Personal Dimensions of Generation Y and Z Employees’ Engagement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-9, June.
    2. Arnold, Thomas Clay, 2001. "Rethinking Moral Economy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 95(1), pages 85-95, March.
    3. Vando Borghi & Tommaso Vitale, 2007. "Le convenzioni del lavoro, il lavoro delle convenzioni," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-02189307, HAL.
    4. R. Maria del Rio-Chanona & Alejandro Hermida-Carrillo & Melody Sepahpour-Fard & Luning Sun & Renata Topinkova & Ljubica Nedelkoska, 2022. "Mental health concerns prelude the Great Resignation: Evidence from Social Media," Papers 2208.07926, arXiv.org.
    5. Vincenzo De Leo & Michelangelo Puliga & Marco Bardazzi & Filippo Capriotti & Andrea Filetti & Alessandro Chessa, 2023. "Topic detection with recursive consensus clustering and semantic enrichment," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Bart Hobijn, 2022. "“Great Resignations” Are Common During Fast Recoveries," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, vol. 2022(08), pages 1-06, April.
    7. Xiaoqian Zhu & Yinghui Wang & Jianping Li, 2022. "What drives reputational risk? Evidence from textual risk disclosures in financial statements," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Fiona Niebuhr & Prem Borle & Franziska Börner-Zobel & Susanne Voelter-Mahlknecht, 2022. "Healthy and Happy Working from Home? Effects of Working from Home on Employee Health and Job Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-14, January.
    9. Thomas E. Lambert, 2023. "The Great Resignation in the United States: A Study of Labor Market Segmentation," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(4), pages 373-386, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Krishnashree Achuthan & Sugandh Khobragade & Robin Kowalski, 2025. "Cybercrime through the public lens: a longitudinal analysis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Zhichong Ma & Yangyang Guo, 2024. "Leveraging Intangible Cultural Heritage Resources for Advancing China’s Knowledge-Based Economy," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 12946-12978, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Malou Grubben & Sara Wiertsema & Remco Hoekman & Gerbert Kraaykamp, 2022. "Is Working from Home during COVID-19 Associated with Increased Sports Participation? Contexts of Sports, Sports Location and Socioeconomic Inequality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-12, August.
    2. Juliana Salvadorinho & Leonor Teixeira, 2023. "Happy and Engaged Workforce in Industry 4.0: A New Concept of Digital Tool for HR Based on Theoretical and Practical Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-29, February.
    3. Jorge de Andrés-Sánchez, 2023. "A Configurational Evaluation of Spanish Teleworkers’ Perception and Nonperception of Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-16, July.
    4. Lea Wolf & Ronny Ehlen & Mona-Maria Bardmann & Caroline Ruiner & Julia Lanzl & Manfred Schoch & Henner Gimpel, 2024. "The role of internal CSR in guiding the digitalisation of work," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Nur Idayu Badrolhisam & Rossilah Jamil, 2025. "Gender flexible work arrangements: a global bibliometric analysis with a focus on Asian content," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-29, December.
    6. Li, Guowen & Wang, Shuai & Feng, Yuyao, 2024. "Making differences work: Financial fraud detection based on multi-subject perceptions," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    7. Li, Jingyu & Guo, Ce & Lv, Sijia & Xie, Qiwei & Zheng, Xiaolong, 2024. "Financial fraud detection for Chinese listed firms: Does managers' abnormal tone matter?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    8. Rudo Rachel Marozva & Anna-Marie Pelser, 2025. "Social Well-Being Strategies for Academics Working in a Hybrid Work Environment," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-23, September.
    9. Sarracino, Francesco & Slater, Giulia, 2025. "Economic possibilities for our grandchildren reloaded," MPRA Paper 125369, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Fiona Niebuhr & Greta M. Steckhan & Susanne Voelter-Mahlknecht, 2022. "New Work Poses New Challenges—The Importance of Work Design Competencies Revealed in Cluster Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-12, October.
    11. Liu, Changyu & Sun, Jia & Zheng, Luhang & Zhu, Renkui, 2025. "Combating the rent-seeking among enterprises in China's emissions trading system," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    12. Yanchao Feng & Rongbing Huang & Yidong Chen & Guoshuo Sui, 2024. "Assessing the moderating effect of environmental regulation on the process of media reports affecting enterprise investment inefficiency in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, December.
    13. Utkarsh Nigoti & Rajasekhar David & Sharda Singh & Rajesh Jain & Nitin Madan Kulkarni, 2025. "Does Flexibility Really Matter to Employees? A Mixed Methods Investigation of Factors Driving Turnover Intention in the Context of the Great Resignation," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 26(1), pages 187-208, March.
    14. David Shaholli & Maria Vittoria Manai & Francesco Iantorno & Luca Di Giampaolo & Hector Alberto Nieto & Emilio Greco & Giuseppe La Torre & Simone De Sio, 2024. "Teleworking and Mental Well-Being: A Systematic Review on Health Effects and Preventive Measures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-19, September.
    15. Vitale, Tommaso, 2010. "Opening the Psychiatric Hospital and Bringing the City Inside. Contradiction and Reflexivity in a Case of Urban Innovation," SocArXiv bw856, Center for Open Science.
    16. Daniel Coq-Huelva & Bolier Torres-Navarrete & Carlos Bueno-Suárez, 2018. "Indigenous worldviews and Western conventions: Sumak Kawsay and cocoa production in Ecuadorian Amazonia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(1), pages 163-179, March.
    17. Wei, Lijian & Lin, Junqin & Cen, Wanjun, 2024. "Stronger relationships higher risk? Credit risk evaluation based on SMEs network microstructure," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    18. Michael W. Kpessa, 2010. "Ideas, Institutions, and Welfare Program Typologies: An Analysis of Pensions and Old Age Income Protection Policies in Sub‐Saharan Africa," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 2(1), pages 37-65, January.
    19. Xiaoqian Zhu & Jianping Li & Yinghui Wang, 2024. "Are risk disclosures in financial reports informative? A text mining-based perspective," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, December.
    20. Michael K. Lemke & Adam Hege & Alexander M. Crizzle, 2023. "An Agenda for Advancing Research and Prevention at the Nexus of Work Organization, Occupational Stress, and Mental Health and Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-12, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:10:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-023-02087-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.