Look Who’s Driving
America’s Great Resignation

Have you been thinking about making a career change? Or just quitting your job because you feel burned out? You’re not alone. By now, you’ve no doubt heard about the “Great Resignation” happening across the country.

Nearly 4 million people quit in April, May, June, and July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But a certain cohort is leading the wave of workers walking away from their jobs.

Harvard Business Review analyzed more than 9 million employee records from more than 4,000 companies, and found that midcareer employees are driving the quits. Resignation rates are highest among 30- to 45-year-old employees, increasing on average by more than 20% over the past year.

Smack in the middle of this job-resigning group is the “geriatric millennial.” This is a term I found so offensive, I believed it was a joke, but it’s an actual term used to describe those turning ages 36 to 41 this year.

But according to Business Insider, the geriatric millennial ultimately holds a lot of sway in the workplace right now. For example, they know to send a Slack message to a Gen Z co-worker instead of calling them out of the blue. But they’d also know to be mindful of an older co-worker's video background and help walk them through such technology.

Being able to act as a generational bridge gives this group a unique toolset, “making them an asset to any employer seeking to create a cohesive and communicative environment.” So the joke’s on ... well, I don’t know who. But not on us geriatric millennials.