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Why Are Employees Leaving Corporate Spaces in Droves?


What happened to the dream?


The one where you entered the corporate world (or any career space really), put in the work, and progressed your way through life until retirement. The one where there was equal opportunity. The one that helped you secure a future for you and your family (if you chose to have one) and allowed you to thrive, and not just survive, in life.


Yeah, that all went out the window a while ago. Or I'd even question- was it ever a reality?


One of the top questions organizational leaders have been asking in recent years is "why can't we retain good staff?" From their perspective, they only see that people are producing less, more absent, and are less willing to put in "extra work" for their roles. Often, organizations will avoid looking at how their decisions and practices have contributed to this, and instead will blame employees (they're just lazy, they want to be coddled, etc.)


From the employee perspective, organizations have lost the plot on what it means to lead, grow and nurture human talent. No job is guaranteed, stability no longer exists, pay is not increasing with inflation, and the expectations and demands on employee time and health are still high.


What's Happening?


Well, let's look at some stats/information from around the web:


  • Things started to take a turn as a result of the impacts 2020, and all that happened in that year. Resignation rates skyrocketed in that year, reaching a peak in 2022.

  • Chronic burnout was already on the rise and was made worse by the events in 2020. Tight deadlines, poor management, lack of care and regard for people and their personal struggles, and unnecessarily complicated and poor work processes have contributed to increasing already high rates of burnout.

  • Corporate layoffs are at an all-time high, with (according to Google) over 91,000 people losing their job since so far just this year (2026).

  • Inflation/the cost of living has also skyrocketed, making the traditional "make it on one income" family dynamic just about impossible. What a $60,000 salary could buy 30 years ago, you would need to make $125,880 in today's money to purchase those same things. That's more than double- and a number many Americans never see in their careers (on their own). 

  • The average income for a single person in the US in 2026 is anywhere from around $47,000 per year to just over $61,000 per year, depending on where you live and your level of education (these numbers don't account for differences in gender and race, with minorities and women making much less).

  • Shifts in technology and the advancement of AI have introduced new ways of working, which come with their own risks and benefits, but have definitely shaken up the job market. It's harder now more than ever to get a job- and recent events like the Workday situation tell us there are systemic and structural reasons beyond our control that this is so.


I could go on. People have found that none of this is worth it and have decided to take nontraditional approaches to achieving security and success.


What's at the heart of all of these? All of these current issues are systemic, and the result of poor decision-making and poor leadership practices across the board. People are not lazy- they are waking up to the fact that the system they've worked so hard and poured so much of their energy into seems to be actively working against them. People have simply reached a point of wanting to be treated like humans, and not like expendable resources. 


Where does this organizational mindset come from? And what needs to change?


What's the disconnect?


The Disconnect

Organizations are struggling to understand the new demands of the workforce because they're operating with outdated assumptions about people, leadership, and organizational health. Traditional models of organizational design were never designed to be human centered- they were designed for efficiency, control, conformity, and predictability. In these systems, emotions and the complexities of being human are considered "messy"- liabilities to be avoided, controlled, or minimized. This mindset is what helped shaped corporate norms around "professionalism" (to control belonging), conformity (for predictability), and compliance (to control behavior).


Most business, political, and even educational systems are built on:

  • Fear of unpredictability

  • Belief that emotion disrupts logic ("people" things are too messy, which means they're unpredictable, which means uncontrollable)

  • Assumption that self-interest is the primary motivator for individuals


These assumptions and mindsets have come from centuries of industrial, military, and colonial thinking, where order, efficiency, and control were survival tools. These old military-style control and authoritarian mindsets are no longer functional in today's world. These ways of thinking have been pushed as the "only" and "best" ways to maintain societal order and avoid chaos- but I, as well as many of you, am starting to question whether this is true.


These systems only have served to preserve social hierarchy, centralize power, and control resources- they were never designed with our well-being in mind. We were sold the dream to keep the machine functioning- and now that we know, the jig is up.


So, what now? I agree that some sense or order and organization is necessary for business functioning, but if we throw away the old system (which we absolutely need to do), what's the alternative?


Human Centered Organizational Design


Being human centered is not about losing authority, creating chaos, or lowering standards, as many traditionalists may think. In fact, designing things in alignment with our natural way of being (versus an over-engineered, socially controlled version) will naturally result in improved results, as evidenced by the many studies available that have shown the many benefits that come with focusing on people first, like improved problem solving, more agility, innovation, and better customer experiences.


Organizations that fail to make this shift will continue to lose good talent, institutional knowledge, and competitive advantage as other organizations draw top talent and reap the benefits of human centered organizational design. Some leaders are just averse to change; others benefit from the current way of doing things and hold onto poor leadership practices out of fear of what might be lost.


Really, human centered organizational design is all about organizing and leading in reality, versus relying on distorted and controlled systems that really don't benefit us, the people, in the long run. 


It all goes much deeper than this though. If you're interested in learning more about the deeper layers of our current organizational systems and how we can counteract their negative impacts in the workplace, you can RSVP to attend the upcoming webinar "The Hidden Game: How to Recognize & Disarm Social Machiavellianism at Work" here.


Help The Workplace Unfiltered reach more people! If you found this article useful, please comment, like and share/repost. If you are interested in workplace wellness coaching and would like to learn more, you can:



 
 
 

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