Things To Consider Before Quitting Your Job During A Pandemic

Choosing to quit your job is a big decision at any time. But leaving a position during a pandemic? That’s a call of monumental proportions! You obviously have your reasons for contemplating such a move, but everything needs to be tempered by the current situation, and what might lie ahead. Here are three things to consider before waving goodbye to your boss.

1.     Where will you go? If you don’t have a job to go to, this is a question that will be  increasingly difficult to answer. While the unemployment rate in New Zealand hasn’t risen dramatically just yet, we must remember that many companies are relying on wage subsidies and other Government support to keep their staff.  What happens when that ends? There is still a lot of uncertainty out there. Your qualifications and experience might have seen you waltz into a new job before the pandemic hit, but with many businesses not sure where they might be next year, next month, or next week, chances are they’re probably not hiring new people right now, and thinking about laying off the staff they already have.

Even when hiring picks up, the job market could be flooded with candidates who have the same skills and experience as you do. So, if you plan to rely on your savings and go jobless until things get back to “normal”, it might not be as easy as you think to secure a new role. Have you got enough to sustain yourself during a longer than expected term of unemployment?

2.     Are you turning your back on learning new skills? Many organisations are doing things differently right now as they adapt to the new way of doing things in a COVID world. Your company is probably one of them. The skill-set required to manage this transition could enjoy increasing demand in the years ahead as these changes become the new way of doing things. By leaving now, are you giving up a chance to secure your future by arming yourself with skills that higher paying employees will soon be looking for?

3.     How much is your reputation worth? With businesses doing it tough and struggling to survive, would walking away right now be seen as a lack of commitment and loyalty? If so, will this hang over you like a dark cloud and sully your reputation both personally and professionally? Sticking with it and helping your employer through a difficult time might see you enhance your standing and value in the future.

Even if you have a job to go to, can you be assured you’ll receive everything you’re entitled to if things fall through? Your new employer might be facing the same headwinds as your current one, so make sure you’re not going to miss out if the worst happens. Get everything in writing in contract form – and ask us to check that contract for you.