Foreign media: According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in March 2026, the food service and accommodation industry leads with a resignation rate of 4.3%, more than double the national average. The primary reasons include low base salaries, unstable tip income, irregular shift schedules, and high physical demands—structural issues that have long plagued the sector. Retail follows closely with a 3.1% resignation rate, due to low entry barriers and a large number of part-time positions, resulting in lower costs for employee turnover.
In contrast, the industries with the strongest retention capabilities show significantly lower resignation rates: federal government at just 0.6%, state and local governments at 0.8%, both recording the lowest levels across the entire dataset. Job security provided by civil service systems, pension benefits, comprehensive welfare packages, and stable work schedules create strong retention barriers. Public sector benefits account for as much as 38.3% of total compensation—far exceeding the 29.9% seen in the private sector. The information technology sector (1.1%) and finance and insurance industry (1.2%) also maintain low resignation rates thanks to high salaries and job stability.
Looking back historically, during the "Great Resignation" wave in 2022, approximately 50.5 million people in the U.S. quit their jobs, pushing the overall industry resignation rate to a peak of 3.0%. However, as job vacancies narrow and the premium for changing jobs diminishes, this trend has clearly subsided—by March 2026, the overall industry resignation rate had fallen back to 2.0%.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1867513917763786/
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