The Great Resignation, also known as the Big Quit and the Great Reshuffle, was a mainly American economic trend in which employees voluntarily resigned from their jobs en masse, beginning in early 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the most cited reasons for resigning included wage stagnation amid rising cost of living, limited opportunities for career advancement, hostile work environments, lack of benefits, inflexible remote-work policies, and long-term job dissatisfaction. Most likely to quit were workers in hospitality, healthcare, and education. In addition, many of the resigning workers were retiring baby boomers, who are one of the largest demographic cohorts in the United States.

Some economists have described the Great Resignation as akin to a general strike, especially with regard to retail workers. However, workforce participation in some regions had returned to or even exceeded the pre-pandemic rate. This suggests that instead of remaining out of the workforce for extended periods (which can be financially difficult, especially at a time of high inflation), many workers were simply swapping jobs. Some regretted quitting their old positions.

The term "Great Resignation" was coined by Anthony Klotz, a professor of management at University College London's School of Management, in May 2021, when he predicted a sustained mass exodus. In response, businesses have increased the rate of automation, creating a boom in robotics and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, while workers might feel empowered by being able to quit as soon as they see fit, they might struggle to climb up the career ladder due to their lack of experience and professional connections. Klotz later predicted the plateauing of the quit rate in 2023, and the end of the Great Resignation. By mid-2023, the quit rate more or less returned to what it was in 2019.

Between December 2000, when quit rates were first measured by the United States Department of Labor, and February 2021, roughly a year following the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. resignation rate never surpassed 2.4% of the total workforce per month. High quit rates indicate worker confidence in the ability to get higher paying jobs, which typically coincides with high economic stability and low unemployment rates. Conversely, during periods of high unemployment, resignation rates tend to decrease as hire rates also decrease. For example, during the Great Recession, the U.S. quit rate decreased from 2.0% to 1.3% as the hire rate fell from 3.7% to 2.8%.

Resignation rates in the U.S. during the pandemic initially followed this pattern. In March and April 2020, a record 13.0 and 9.3 million workers (8.6% and 7.2%) were laid off, and the quit rate subsequently fell to a seven-year low of 1.6%. Much of the layoffs and resignations were driven by women, who disproportionately work in industries that were affected most by the lock-downs, like service industries and childcare.

As the pandemic continued, however, workers began to quit their jobs in large numbers despite initially high unemployment. The hospitality industry was especially negatively impacted during this time, which will present new challenges and opportunities for its eventual recovery.

According to Microsoft's Work Trend Index, more than 40% of the global workforce considered quitting their job in 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic allowed workers to rethink their careers, work conditions, and long-term goals. As many workplaces attempted to bring their employees in-person, workers desired the freedom that remote work afforded them during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as schedule flexibility, which was the primary reason to look for a new job of the majority of those studied by Bankrate in August 2021. Additionally, many workers, particularly in younger cohorts, are seeking to gain a better work–life balance. In the U.S., connections are also being drawn to reported increases in workplace stress and employee burnout. Moreover, millions of people now have long COVID; this disability can alter the ability or desire to work. Lambert (2022) finds that the concept of labor market segmentation is useful in explaining resignation rates across different industries.

Restaurants and hotels, industries that require in-person interactions, have been hit the hardest by waves of resignations. COVID-19 stimulus payments and rises in unemployment benefits allowed those who relied on low-wage jobs for survival to stay home, although places where unemployment benefits were rolled back did not see significant job creation as a result. On the other hand, many workers who felt dissatisfied with their jobs reported that they cannot resign due to economic barriers. Sekou Siby, president and CEO of the U.S. nonprofit Restaurant Opportunities Center United, commented, "There's more competition across industries, so workers are feeling more empowered than ever before, but that doesn't mean everyone is able to leave their current jobs."