As they search for jobs with more purpose, workers are switching industries more frequently. We can learn a lot about how individuals approach their work from this significant movement.

Marcin, 33, was aware that his industry required a significant overhaul. The New Jersey-based auditor had grown tired of working a desk job where his only in-person interactions were via email and where his main daily responsibility was to support a company’s bottom line. He asserted that, despite working through enormous amounts of data and repeating the same monotonous chores every day, he was simply looking for human errors to recover money for clients. He thought working there was worthless. Marcin made the decision to study nursing rather than auditing. He spent three years studying at a community college and a year attending nursing school before accepting a job in an intensive care unit at a hospital in October 2021. Despite how demanding, challenging, and unpleasant it was, he was happy.

Millions of workers are transitioning to new positions as a result of the Great Resignation. Some people look for more money or more flexibility, while others change jobs frequently to advance their careers. A McKinsey & Company global poll of over 2,000 employees conducted in July 2022 revealed that 48% of people who left their jobs in the previous two years switched industries.