Title: According to the media and from watching my professional circle, it seems that many are indeed changing jobs with significant pay raises--the so-called Great Resignation.<p>I&#x27;d like to hear from HN about job changes and raises. Anecdotes are welcome, but ideally one of us works in HR and has systematic data.<p>But more importantly, I&#x27;d like to think through the reasons driving the Great Resignation. Below are several explanations with my own assessments.<p>1. People die from Covid, reducing the labor force. 
-&gt; Irrelevant for tech workers<p>2. People get large checks from the gov and are not pressured to find job. 
-&gt; Irrelevant for tech workers<p>3. People avoided changing jobs during the pandemic. So the high turnover now is simply making up for low turnover in 2020.
-&gt; This does explain the high turnover, but not the significant raises. Indeed, the number of workers and jobs remains the same--people are shuffling between places. To be convinced of this theory, I&#x27;d like to see that raises are flat.<p>3. Senior workers are retiring early due to pandemic-related revelation. Mid-level workers are thus getting more promos than usual.
-&gt; Seems plausible. To be convinced, I need to see mid-level workers getting raises, and entry-level workers NOT getting raises.<p>4. [My theory] Remote work allows better matching of people and jobs. Imagine that person A can deliver lots of value to company B, but is hitherto prevented to do so due to location. With remote work, Person A can now work for Company B and get paid higher accordingly.
-&gt; To be convinced, I need to see that remote job offers have higher comp vs comparable non-remote job offers. If this theory is true, then the Great Resignation&#x2F;Remote Work makes the job market more efficient, creates value for society, and should be celebrated by employees and employers alike.<p>5. [My theory] The pandemic pushes society forward in terms of tech adoption, making tech workers even more valuable than before.
-&gt; Seems plausible, since tech has become more valuable as a whole (e.g. stock price), not just salary. If this theory is true, then it is again a good thing for both tech workers and the broader society.
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