Have you ever heard of shift shock?
Kathryn Minshew, co-founder and CEO of The Muse describes it as that feeling when you start a new job and realize, with either surprise or regret, that the position or company is very different from what you were led to believe.
Nodding your head yet? Yeah, me too.
Apparently we’re not alone.
According to the Muse’s January workplace survey, 72% of jobseekers say they’ve started a new job and felt a sense of surprise or regret that the role or company was very different from what they were led to believe. The survey included 2,500 millennial and Gen Z jobseekers that were asked to answer honest questions about their working experiences.
The survey also delved into avid jobseekers’ feelings about the shift shock experience as well. About 20% of the participants said they would quit within a month if their new job isn’t what they expected, and another 41% would give a new job just two to six months before quitting.
“People are explaining: There were key differences in the opportunity than I was signing up for,’” Minshew said. “Culturally we’re accepting that this is a completely reasonable explanation. And when things are accepted, they become more common.”
She also says this shift shock phenomena isn’t new at all, but because of the pandemic and subsequent Great Resignation, feelings of “shift shock” are exacerbated.
For one, it’s harder for candidates to gauge a company’s culture if they can’t visit the office for interviews, or if those offices are cleared out of everyone working from home. After joining a company, people will tolerate so-so jobs if they like their coworkers or boss, Machado adds, but that’s harder to get a feel for when you’re starting a new position remotely.
“When people feel like they have opted into a situation with eyes wide open,” Minshew said in a CNBC interview, “they’re much more likely to accept the good and the bad, and to show up as engaged, productive, satisfied employees.”