Geoffrey Branger 3:04 p.m., August 19, 2022

At the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022, 520,000 people resigned, of which 470,000 were on permanent contracts.

This is the highest level since 2008. But compared to the number of employees, the resignation rate remains below previous periods.

According to an economist, employees seek to take advantage of the dynamism of the job market.

In France, at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, resignations reached a historically high level.

Some 520,000 were recorded per quarter over the period, including 470,000 for permanent contracts alone.

This is more than the previous record for the first quarter of 2008. Can we therefore speak of a wave of “great resignation”, like that recorded in the United States in mid-2021?

And what does that translate? 

A rise in the normal quit rate in times of economic recovery

This wave is rather a good sign for the economy.

If we relate the number of resignations to the number of employees in France, we then obtain a resignation rate of 2.7%.

This rate is low during crises and increases during recovery.

Concretely, when the economy is doing well, there are new opportunities on the job market, thus encouraging people to quit their job more often.

In the current context, the rise in the resignation rate then appears to be normal with the economic recovery following the health crisis.

Other indicators come to counterbalance these figures which could worry the employment rate, in particular Bertrand Martinot, economist specializing in employment at the Institut Montaigne.

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"Opportunities to move from one job to another are simpler"

"The labor market has been extraordinarily dynamic, with a lot of job creation," he says.

“Opportunities to move from one job to another are simply much simpler. Many employees use this strength in the labor market to reposition themselves in other jobs and simply go elsewhere if the salary conditions of work are better".

At a time when many sectors are having difficulty recruiting, employees are in a strong position to negotiate.

Currently, eight out of ten resigning CDD find a job within six months.