great resignation
/ɡreɪt ˌrɛzɪɡˈneɪʃən/
CommonThe wave of voluntary quits that swept the U.S. and other countries starting in 2021.
More of a news/media label than a piece of slang. Used online both as a historical reference and as shorthand for the cultural shift it represented.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | I quit during the great resignation and doubled my salary. Best decision I made. | Leaving in 2021-2022 created real influence to get better pay. | reddit, 2022 |
| 02 | The great resignation didn't go anywhere. People just got quieter about it. | The underlying worker discontent continues even if mass quitting slowed down. | x, 2023 |
| 03 | My whole team left within six months. Full great resignation arc. | The team experienced its own version of the mass departure trend. | linkedin, 2022 |
| 04 | They keep asking why nobody wants to work. Bro, they saw the great resignation and learned they have options. | Workers know they can leave and some employers still haven't adjusted. | tiktok, 2023 |
Use it when
- Referring to the 2021-2022 wave of mass voluntary job departures.
- Describing the broader cultural shift in worker attitudes that accompanied those departures.
- Citing a historical moment in a conversation about work culture.
Do not use it when
- You mean someone quietly checked out but didn't actually leave.Use “quiet-quitting-movement” instead.
- You mean a mass layoff.
Variations and related forms
Origin and context
The term was coined by organizational psychologist Anthony Klotz in early 2021 to predict a coming wave of post-pandemic quits. The wave materialized: the U.S. saw record monthly quit rates throughout 2021 and into 2022.
- First seen
- 2021
- Confidence
- high
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/great-resignationUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0