"I quit": mass layoffs due to workplace stress

There are not yet accurate statistics on the full number of redundant workers, but there is already a clear trend of job changes in the south of the country. In recent months, people have been leaving their jobs more and more often of their own volition.

Valerie Witt's story

If it wasn't for COVID-19, Valerie Witt would never have had the courage to quit her job. This fifty-year-old woman from Markham, Ontario, worked as a project manager for Ontario Health for 13 years. She felt very exhausted because she had to commute to the office in downtown Toronto, sitting in traffic for two hours every day. She had been thinking about quitting for a long time, but the thought of giving up a stable job and a steady paycheck frightened her.

Then the pandemic began. Office workers were ordered to work at home, and for the first time Witt got a taste of a different life. She was still fulfilling her duties, but she had already avoided many of the challenges. The woman had more free time to exercise and plan healthy meals, and she had more energy for her daughters, aged 6 and 10.

"Pandemic has shown me that there are more important things in life than a busy corporate career. Not having to get up and rush to work, kicking my kids out the door, gave me energy and freed up time and space to start really appreciating my life and doing what I want to do," said Witt, who officially quit her job last week and is already starting a freelance job, planning her own business.

Employees burned out or prefer to work remotely

Witt's story is by no means an isolated incident. As the Canadian economy now emerges from more than 15 months of restrictions caused by the pandemic and employees begin to return to the office, experts say a wave of layoffs of office workers could cause labour shortages in its various sectors.

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