Myth 3: The Great Resignation is a 2021 phenomenon

The term Great Resignation was coined by Anthony Klotz, a professor at Texas A&M, in May; at the time, he framed a mass exodus from the workforce as a prediction for the next year. But since the bottom fell out of the economy in April 2020, the labor-force participation rate has increased for most groups—men and women, white and nonwhite. The biggest exception is older Americans, who by and large quit their jobs (and stayed quit) last year.

The great majority of this economy’s “quitters,” are seniors. But they quit a while ago, and calling their decisions “resignations”is sort of weird.