A recent trend, though possibly localized to my corner of the world, has been one of younger employees leaving larger companies for smaller ones as they get fed up with the inefficiency of large organizations. With tomorrow as my last day at a larger company, I can say that red tape wasn’t my main reason for leaving, but it made it easier to consider other opportunities as they rolled in. I know one friend leaving a management job at a large company for a development job at a small one. I have coworkers who are about to explode from frustration they have because they just want to be allowed to do their job, and can’t. I have brainstormed some possible reasons for this:

• Increasing Job Choices – A recovering job market is opening up more opportunities, and employees no longer feel the pressure to attach themselves to the safety of a large company.
• The “Office Space” Complex – while older, more traditional workers are accustomed to the ins and outs of corporate America, younger employees, no longer inculcated with ideals of loyalty to one company, are refusing to accept such ways of doing business.
• Government Induced Overhead – While larger, public companies have always been subject to higher government scrutiny, recent monstrosities such as the Sarbannes-Oxley Act have added a weighty new layer of overhead. This new height of regulation is driving off employees.
• Learned Complacence – It could be that a certain tolerance for inefficiency is built up over the years, and the people I see moving simply haven’t acquired this yet, but will eventually.
• Increased Sensitivity – I might just be noticing other people’s similar transitions because of heightened awareness.
• Coincidence – It may be a complete non-trend, and just a localized spike.

Any other thoughts, suggestions, trends, or data points?