‘The great resignation’: The ambivalences of the liquid employee facing a consumerist work relationship

Vincent Meyer, Jean-Denis Culié, Xavier Philippe (), Thomas Sorreda (), Jean-François Garcia () and Luc Tessier
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Vincent Meyer: Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie = EM Normandie Business School
Jean-Denis Culié: Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie = EM Normandie Business School
Xavier Philippe: Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie = EM Normandie Business School
Thomas Sorreda: Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie = EM Normandie Business School
Jean-François Garcia: Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie = EM Normandie Business School
Luc Tessier: Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie = EM Normandie Business School

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Abstract: In early 2021, many workers in OECD countries, especially France, decided to resign, a phenomenon commonly known as ‘the Great Resignation'. Based on 41 interviews with employees who voluntarily left their jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 health crisis and building on the work of Zygmunt Bauman, our research unveils the emergence of "liquid employees", trapped in a vicious circle of consumption. Organisations consider employees as consumer goods, and in return, the latter become consumers of organisations through frequent job-hopping. Our findings also highlight how this consumerist work relationship is embedded in a process of adiaphorisation of organisations and managers and how resignation represents more of a necessity than a choice for liquid employees.

Keywords: Great resignation; Turnover; Liquid employee; Adiaphorisation; Consumerism; Bauman (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-02-01
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04972054v1
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Published in European Management Journal, 2026, 44 (1), pp.25-37. ⟨10.1016/j.emj.2024.11.008⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04972054

DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2024.11.008

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