A new survey from SAVii Workplace Intelligence showed that 37% of employees recently separated from their employers who did not have new jobs yet mentioned office location or changes in work from home policy' as their reason for leaving.

In a year of record employee-initiated separations, HR practitioners everywhere seek to understand the great resignation phenomenon. SAVii, the salary finance platform, has revealed new research designed to empower HR leaders with workplace intelligence.

The latest Philippine Statistics Authority data shows that the separation rate has increased to 8.1% from 4.7% in 2019. Additionally, personal issues caused 40% of employee-initiated resignations in 2021.

Over 1,600 employees were sampled in the SAVii Workplace Intelligence survey of 10,000 workers who were also SAVii customers. SAVii is the category leader in salary-linked financial services that directly affect employee churn, a core parameter that defines their credit scoring model.

Respondents had all been separated from their employers from 2021-2022. The majority (56%) of respondents were from the IT-BPO (information technology-business process outsourcing) industry. 26% of respondents stated 'office location or changes in work from home policy' as their reason for leaving.

The survey verifies mainstream media reports that a "substantial number" of workers in the IT-BPO sector were considering quitting after the government ordered that 90% of teams return to on-site work by the 1st of April. The exodus of talent presents an additional challenge for Human Resource teams, still managing the changes in workplace operations brought about by the pandemic.

The study further discloses that only 67% of separated employees had new jobs. The respondents with no new employment stated office location and changes in work-from-home policies as their top reason for leaving their current employer.

A census of SAVii's back-office team revealed that time and money saved from not commuting to an office location was the top reason for the preference to continue working from home. Increased time with family and flexible work hours was also significant motivation to remain remote.

"It's alarming that 37% of separated employees surveyed left their current employer due to a return to the office despite having no new employment arrangements,” said SAVii CEO and Founder Liam Grealish. "This puts pressure on employed members of their family and increases their financial stress that affects worker wellbeing."