The power has swung back to employers—and workers are paying for it in benefits, flexibility, and leverage

Business colleagues meeting in modern conference room (Credit: MoMo Productions—Getty Images)

Employers have regained their power over employees, and the effects are already showing up.

During the peak of the Great Resignation in November 2021, 4.5 million workers left their jobs voluntarily. As of last month, that number was about 3 million as employees hesitated to quit at a time when job searches can drag on for months. Workers’ optimism for finding a job is lower today than during the pandemic in 2020, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.