The Greatest Resignation (so far)?

The ‘Great Resignation‘, hereto previously an abstract concept for the unaffected many, has claimed its most famous scalp yet. Jack Dorsey, CEO of micro-blogging site Twitter, has resigned.

His tender is one of 144 CEO resignations in the tech sector this October, up 14% from the same time last year. According to executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., “rumors are swirling that Dorsey was ousted due to activist investors”.

Twitter’s world renowned ringleader co-founded the company with friends Biz Stone, Noah Glass and Evan Williams back in 2006, and having made it to CEO he then left the position in 2008, only to return as chief executive after much internal shuffling in 2015.

Dorsey also serves as CEO of payments app Square. The cynical amongst us might say that sticking with just fintech is a safer bet, even taking into account market volatility, than staying with Twitter.

Having to lead the agenda on issues such as cancel culture, free speech and other concerns of modern discourse may finally have proved more hassle than it’s worth for Dorsey.

His decision earlier this year to ban Donald Trump, the then-President of the United States, from the platform was a remarkable event at the intersection of modern politics and digital culture.

But it made him a divisive figure, as a result of what once upon a time would have been seen as a routine administrative decision.

Plans to move his operations to Africa were nixed by COVID-19 restrictions, and his headlong tilt towards cryptocurrencies haven’t diminished the general sense of Dorsey being yet another whimsical tech kingpin, albeit one who approaches life with a healthy dose of curiosity.

Safe to say though, Dorsey’s motivations for quitting likely do not chime with the most common reasons why most workers are leaving their jobs.

He can’t complain about a lack of career development opportunities or a bad workplace culture as he’s directly responsible for shaping and improving both these things. Likewise, whether he’s considered valued in the workplace seems difficult to deny.

Burnout however, is all too real for CEOs, particularly those running not just one company, but two. The ‘Great Resignation’ is a wake up call for organizations to improve their employee offering, particularly when it comes to perks and benefits.

Interestingly, the markets do not seem too concerned about Dorsey’s departure. Twitter shares jumped 12% at the announcement of Dorsey’s resignation before closing 2% lower than at the opening bell.

With talk of the Great Return already on the horizon, the big question now is – will Dorsey fancy a third stint at the helm?