Tech workers are looking for new jobs — and more purpose

Big tech companies — the largest, most dominant and prestigious in the information technology industry — are losing ground with employees. But it’s not because they can’t deliver on salaries and perks. It’s because their employees are craving more purpose.  

While no industry has been immune to the Great Resignation, the tech industry is being hit especially hard. In 2021, 72% of employees working in tech or IT roles were thinking of quitting their job the following year, compared to just 55% for the overall U.S. workforce, according to a survey by online learning platform TalentLMS. 

“Often, people in tech are driven by the challenge of delivering a best-in-class product,” Greg Collins, senior vice president at edtech platform Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. “But I think people are increasingly taking that thought a step further and asking, ‘How does this product create impact and make the world a better place?’” 

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Just last year, Collins asked himself that question, and ended up leaving his cybersecurity position at a major tech insights platform to join HMH, where he focuses on enabling educators — many of whom are also struggling with their own careers due to lack of resources — with more impactful learning experiences through a single technology platform. 

“I remember all of the dreams about how education [technology] was going to change [learning], but it didn't because there were no channels and there were no people,” says Alejandro Reyes, chief people officer at HMH. “But now there are, because people in technology are realizing that [purposeful jobs] are no longer just a dream. They’re real.”

The union of tech and education is just one example of the many career and industry opportunities now available to employees with technology experience. These same kinds of revelations are happening across all tech industries, according to Collins, as companies like HMH sell the legacy and human impact of what they’re building, which may feel out of reach at a larger tech firm. 

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“Employees are struggling with burnout,” he says. “Not just too much work, but stress over work that is underappreciated, or undervalued. We all want to feel like we’re working for something rather than just working.” 

Sixty-five percent of employees said the pandemic had made them rethink the place that work should have in their life, according to a 2021 survey conducted by technological research and consulting firm Gartner. Fifty-six percent said it made them want to contribute more to society. The current state of the tech industry and the growing importance of subgenres like edtech is just the result of that mindset, according to Collins. 

“In my own experience, looking from one tech company to another as you make decisions about your career, it’s easy to adhere to the adage that ‘the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence,’” he says. “In edtech, we’re actually growing a garden — we know that our work unequivocally moves the needle towards a better world, and that’s a great feeling.”