Has "The Great Resignation" Impacted Our Local TV Stations?

The Great Resignation, also known as the Big Quit, is the ongoing trend of employees voluntarily leaving their jobs, from spring 2021 to the present. As the pandemic has continued, workers have quit their jobs in large numbers. This is despite continued labor shortages and high unemployment.

Photo by Nabil Saleh on Unsplash

Is the "big quit" now effecting our West Michigan TV stations? On the heels of the television retirement of Sports Anchor, Larry Figurski at WOOD TV, two more on-air presenters have announced their voluntary departure from WOOD TV.

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From her Facebook page, Heather Walker, Anchor & Reporter at WOOD-TV declared breaking news,

"I will be leaving WOOD TV8 at the end of the month. After nearly nine years with the station, this move is bittersweet. West Michigan has welcomed me in so many ways. The mitten will forever have a special place in my heart. I hope you will tune in next Sunday for my final time signing off from the desk.

More details to follow."

Facebook-Heather Walker

From Twitter, Seth Wells tweeted that similar to Larry Figurski, he too will be leaving the sports department at WOOD TV.

WOOD-TV signed on the air on August 15, 1949. It was originally WLAV-TV which stood for Leonard Adrian Versluis. It was the first station to sign on the air in Grand Rapids and carried programming from NBC, CBS, ABC and the DuMont network.