American Employee: What Constitutes A Resignation

A sudden exodus of employees is causing leadership to panic and suddenly puts me under a microscope with questions like:

  • Are you going to leave?
  • What can we do to keep you from leaving?
  • Do you see yourself here in 1 year?

These are all semi valid questions to ask in the best interest of the company. But I’m curious how this information could be used.

This all got me thinking – at what point could – “no - I don’t see myself in a year” be used as a resignation with a 1 year notice – and then terminated after ~3 months and be ineligible for unemployment since you “technically” resigned.

TootSweet ,

Is this a "help I answered my boss' questions truthfully and now I'm worried I may have sunk myself into some trouble" post? If so, you might want to share what you've said. (Like, if you said you don't see yourself there in a year, maybe try speaking less in the hypothetical.)

If you're asking for guidance for how to answer questions you anticipate being asked, the way I'd probably answer is:

  • Are you going to leave? I don't have any plans to leave.
  • What can we do to keep you from leaving? Given my current situation, the main thing(s) I can think of that could make an offer from another company hard to turn down would be _______(higher pay, more vacation, travel benefits, better medical insurance, whatever). I wouldn't have asked for such from you had you not asked me directly, but if you wanted feedback on what to focus on to be compeditive in the jobs market in this field, that would be my answer.
  • Do you see yourself here in 1 year? I hope to be here in a year, yes. (If you quit within the week, you can say things changed between this question and your resignation.)

Try to smile, be polite. Chances are the people directly asking the questions of you will find it as awkward as you do. They're only doing it because they were told to.

If you've already told them things like "I don't see myself here in a year" (or something lesser like "I dunno" or "it's hard to predict that far out" or anythjng), don't sweat it. I really don't think there's much you could have said that could actually come back to bite you. "I don't see myself here in a year" is not the same as "I won't be working here in a year." I doubt anything you've said could qualify as a resignation.

etchinghillside OP ,

Appreciated - fortunately for my anxieties I don’t think I dug myself too deep before I raised this.

I’ll keep some of those comments in mind. My current mindset is to just leverage it for a promotion and run with that while I start working with my network to see what else is available. Ideally the promotion will come with a significant bump in base pay and not all be time based vesting instruments.

lars ,

Now’s your chance. Ask for a little more than what you want while there’s time.

Sir_Kevin ,
@Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

The only thing I can add to this excellent response is, don't put anything in writing!

CrimeDad ,

@Vanth is correct. I would just add that you should always apply for unemployment when you leave a company and do not immediately have new employment. Don't disqualify yourself. That's the job of your state's department of labor.

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