How many people are really fed up with their jobs?

Toxic culture

For those who actually have walked out the door, the number one reason has nothing to do with money, it was a toxic culture that pushed them away.

62% of employees surveyed by FlexJobs pegged this as the top reason why they have left, which edged out salary (59%) and poor management (56), along with the lack of healthy work-life balance (49%) and remote work (43%), being burned out (42%), and not allowing flexible schedules (41%).

“Toxic company culture drives people to leave their jobs more than any other single factor. Especially with many companies now transitioning to permanent hybrid workplaces, it’s critical that leaders emphasize building healthy cultures that are inclusive of all their workers’ needs and locations, whether they’re on-site or remote,” said Sara Sutton, founder and CEO of FlexJobs.

For one expert on the topic, companies should take a close look at just how people are being treated, lest they risk a mass resignation.

“If the organization is large enough, it’s probably going to have some pockets of toxicity, nevertheless. And even if the culture is very healthy as a whole, toxicity can still be the number one driver of attrition, just because although it’s only affecting a small percentage of the organization, it can still have a very powerful effect on that portion of the organization,” said Charles Sull, co-founder of CultureX, which did a major study on the topic with MIT and found similar results.