What The Great Resignation means for media in 2022

Partner content

The world of work has opened up like never before. This means more opportunities for employees and a bigger talent pool for employers.

By now, we’ve all heard of the term, “The Great Resignation”. In a nutshell, it refers to the monumental shift that we have seen in the workforce over the past two years.

Since 2020, we have seen a huge amount of change. From the rise of remote working to the advances in technology and innovation. In times of upheaval, it’s normal for people to reevaluate their position.

During the countless lockdowns, workers across the globe were forced to really look at their career. When fun workspaces, free snacks and after-work drinks were stripped away, people started to ask themselves, “Do I really like my job?”

It allowed workers in various different sectors to dwell on what was really important to them (and what they wanted to get rid off). As a result, people quit their roles in their droves in the search for something bigger and better.

While The Great Resignation has affected every single industry, it’s effect on the media sector is particularly interesting. Here’s what it means for 2022 and beyond.

Careers with a conscience

For years, salary was the number one factor that attracted people to roles. Now, we’re definitely seeing a shift towards passion-based careers that align with an individual’s values and beliefs. In fact, a study by WeSpire found that Gen-Z is the first generation to prioritise purpose over salary. Today’s workers want their employers values to match their own.

The great thing about the media industry is that it is so wide and varied. If you want to work for a charity or NGO, you can easily go and do that. If you’re passionate about the environment you can choose a role at a PR firm that specialises in sustainable brands. The options truly are endless. Thanks to the huge reshuffle of roles we are experiencing at the moment, people are finally finding the roles that they have always dreamed of.

Breaks are common

According to a study by Indeed, employee burnout is still a major problem. Over half (52%) of survey respondents experienced burnout in 2021. This is up from the 43% who said the same in Indeed’s pre-Covid 19 survey.

One knock-on effect of this is the need for career breaks. After working non-stop for nearly two years, we predict that lots of people will be taking a prolonged period of time off work in 2022. Employers will be expected to give sabbaticals if they don’t want to lose key individuals. In addition to this, employees are looking for companies that have ample time off every year with the option of extended breaks (even if they are not paid).

It’s okay to jump ship

In the past, media employees would typically pick a certain sector whether that was television, radio, online, or print and work their way up the ladder. In order to succeed in your chosen field, you’d need to put in a lot of time and effort. Plus, have a specifically tailored CV.

However, after The Great Resignation, employees are starting to realise that their skills are widely transferable across other sectors and industries. For example, someone who has worked in radio their whole career, can now pivot to work in online news without many people raising an eyebrow. The world of work has opened up like never before. This means more opportunities for employees and a bigger talent pool for employers.

Freelance is thriving

During the pandemic, lots of workers decided that they had enough of working 9-5, five days per week. As a result, many people decided to start freelancing. The flexibility this gave employees was unmatched and the gig economy is now thriving as a result.

Remote working really demonstrated that people can work from anywhere. After a while, many employees started to crave even more freedom. The best way to do this is to work for yourself. The stats speak for themselves. Global freelance platform Fiverr reported that 68% of remote workers are interested in freelancing as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

Are you ready to find your perfect role? You can check out thousands of roles on the Mediatel jobs board here.

Rebecca O’Keeffe is content manager at Mediatel Jobs’ partner Jobbio