Number of job-to-job resignations in the UK 2001-2024

In the first quarter of 2024, approximately 269,000 job-to-job resignations took place in the United Kingdom, compared with 322,000 in the same quarter of 2023. The number of resignations in Q2 2022 was the highest number taking place in a single quarter during this provided time period, reaching 442,000. In most years, there is a noticeable trend of resignations peaking in the fourth quarter of the year and being at their lowest in the first quarter. There is also a significant fall in people resigning from their jobs after the 2008 financial crisis and after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The Great Resignation

The high number of resignations that took place after COVID-19 hit also occurred in the United States. Throughout 2022, approximately 50 million American workers quit their jobs in a trend dubbed 'The Great Resignation' In both the UK and U.S. the trend corresponded with a very tight labor market. After emerging from the initial COVID-19 lockdowns, UK unemployment declined from 2021 onwards, falling to a low of just 3.6 percent in August 2022. There was also a large number of job vacancies, which peaked in May 2024 at 1.3 million. 

Business as usual in 2024?

After the hot labor market of 2022 began to cool in 2023, many indicators returned to more usual levels by 2024. As of March, the UK's unemployment rate stood at 4.3 percent, with job vacancies numbering 898,000 in April. What has remained high since the pandemic, however, is the number of people on long-term sick-leave. At the start of 2020, there were approximately 2.12 million people economically inactive for this reason, with this increasing to almost 2.83 million by February 2023. It is unclear if there is one overriding factor driving this surge, with possible causes including the prevalence of Long COVID, or the ongoing NHS crisis.