Find out how recent employment trends are adding to the challenges the pandemic created for colleges and universities — and what you can do about it.
American workers have been leaving their jobs in droves while the world has been adjusting to the havoc — and opportunities — created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees of the nation’s colleges and universities are no different. Now, their willingness to job hop has inspired a fundamental reassessment of what the future holds for admissions and enrollment leaders.
Watch Liaison’s new on-demand webinar, Beyond the Great Resignation – Insights from the Field, to learn how these trends are impacting schools and how your institution can move forward successfully.
A new reality
“Whatever life looked like before pandemic, it’s probably not going to look like again,” says Robert Ruiz, Strategic Enrollment and Business Director at Liaison. “Going forward, that certainly can be challenging on one hand, but on the other hand it can be very liberating and create exciting new opportunities.”
During the webinar, Ruiz hosts a discussion with David Poole, Research Director at Liaison’s EngineeringCAS, and Steve Taylor, Research Director at BusinessCAS. Having worked on campus for years, they all speak from personal experience.
“I was actually part of this Great Resignation we’re talking about,” Poole says. “I made a transition. I thought about my life just like many people did during the pandemic. That’s really where this Great Resignation really all started. People asked themselves what’s important, in terms of their family and in terms of their profession.”
Who is actually resigning?
As Poole says, “No matter how you want to define it, the answer is everyone.” Consider the numbers:
- 55% of workers overall are planning on looking for new jobs
- 72% of employees making less than $30,000 annually plan to seek new employment
- 44% of people earning $80,000 or more plan to switch jobs
- 33% of Baby Boomers, 77% of Gen Zers, and 63% of Millennials plan to change jobs within the next year
Looking at the campus workforce in in particular:
- More than 80% of Student Affairs survey respondents said burnout and low salaries could lead people to leave
- 19% of provosts say faculty members are now leaving at significantly higher rates than in the past
“What we’re seeing as a result of the Great Resignation is that there has been a fundamental renegotiation of the relationship between institution and individual, especially when it comes to staff,” Taylor says.
“In higher ed right now, partnerships present a really cool opportunity to support managers,” he added. “They provide a great platform to reduce some the administrative burden caused by the Great Resignation.”
Total Enrollment Workshops
“One thing we’re doing at Liaison that has become quite popular, quite quickly is a Total Enrollment Workshop for institutions,” Ruiz says. “It entails a team of Liaison experts — people with significant on-campus experience as enrollment managers — visiting you on your campus and talking with your team about the current era we’re in as it relates to enrollment. We look at what you’re doing well, what might not be going well, and what the industry trends are for your particular institution. We then provide you with some very specific recommendations about how you can organize your teams in a way that strengthens them.”
Click here to watch Beyond the Great Resignation – Insights from the Field now.
If you have any follow-up questions or would like to schedule a Total Enrollment Workshop on your campus, please contact Robert Ruiz at rruiz@liaisonedu.com.