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Why employees are really leaving in 2025
Written by Tony Matthews, Insync
For years, a lack of career progression has been identified as the top reason employees leave their roles. But not anymore.
Our data, collected from over 2,850 exit interviews conducted between 2019 and 2025, shows a significant shift: employees are no longer walking out the door in search of a promotion. They are leaving in search of balance, wellbeing, and sanity.
Is career growth losing its grip?
In 2019, career development was the number 1 driver of resignation. In our research, 37% of leavers cited it. But in 2025, this had declined to just 26%.
Other big drops that we have seen over this same period:
- Professional development: down from 32% to 17%
- Roles not challenging enough: down from 31% to just 13%
Of course, this could just be a dip, but it could also be a signal that climbing the ladder is no longer the primary driver it once was. That argument aligns with other research undertaken post-pandemic, including a PwC Australia Report of over 8,000 employees on work-life priorities, and some more recent insights into the pandemic’s ‘career shock,’ published in January 2025 in Newsweek.
What’s rising? Work-life balance
The biggest climber in our research is work-life balance. It has increased from 20% in 2019 to 33% in 2025 and now ranks as one of the top reasons people resign.
Perhaps, like you, I can’t help but think about the former Coalition’s proposal to end work-from-home arrangements for public servants, which they (almost) took to this year’s federal election. This proposal has since been widely regarded as a misstep that may have influenced the election outcome.
It seems that today, employees expect flexibility, respect for their boundaries, and support for their wellbeing, and if they are not getting it, many of them are leaving.
What this means for councils & HR leaders
The workforce has changed. Priorities have shifted. But some of our assumptions about why people leave may be outdated. Perhaps in your organisation, it is not just about promotion paths anymore. Perhaps it’s about finding balance, offering support, and fostering meaningful engagement.
But don’t guess. If your organisation isn’t already running exit interviews, now could be the time to start. They are a simple yet powerful method for revealing exactly why people are leaving and what you can do to stop it.
