The “Great Resignation” Goes Global

As part of an ambitious restructuring of the international office at Louisiana State University (LSU), Samba Dieng, MS, had four open director-level positions to fill in 2021. The pool of candidates, he says, “became smaller and smaller” as the year progressed, prompting him to close one search and reopen it.

“I had this highly attractive position at a flagship institution, and the pool of candidates was still small,” says Dieng, who is the senior internationalization officer (SIO) and executive director of international programs at LSU.

The challenge of attracting and retaining international office staff at all levels has intensified at what is a promising time for international education following pandemic-related program cancellations and staff retrenchment throughout all of higher ed. As global mobility resumes, many institutions are expanding their international offices and programs and reemphasizing global awareness and connectedness. But their leaders are facing headwinds from the so-called “Great Resignation”—the dramatic levels of turnover that saw more than 47 million Americans leaving jobs in 2021 as the pandemic began to abate.

“I have so many vacant positions. The staffing challenge is everywhere, but in the international sector, it’s even greater.” —Baihua Chadwick

In conversation, several international education leaders indicated that this has translated into failed searches, low numbers of applicants for open positions, requests for remote work or to forego relocation, and challenges in competing with the changing salary and flexibility expectations seen in virtually every sector and profession.

“I have so many vacant positions,” says Baihua Chadwick, BA