Retaining Library Employees: What Works?

Abstract

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education has been grappling with the “Great
Resignation” as employees leave jobs at higher rates than the industry has seen in
years.1 Although turnover rates seem to be slowing, they still exceed pre-pandemic levels,
with 33% of employees indicating they would be looking for new jobs within the next
year.2 Employees that do stay may suffer from the “Great Detachment,” or generalized
feelings of burnout.3 From search expenses and productivity decreases to loss of institutional
knowledge and impacts on institutional culture, these resignations pose real costs
to academic libraries and their institutions