American workers quit 4.2 million jobs in August, but one type of employee appears to be getting cold feet about switching employers or quitting to take a career timeout: office workers.

People with jobs classified as professional and business services, including those who work in occupations such as accounting, engineering, office administration, legal services and consulting, quit in far fewer numbers in August than they had in previous months, according to the latest federal data. Worries about slowdowns, such as Amazon.com Inc.’s recently announced hiring freeze for retail corporate workers, may temper workers’ confidence about how quickly they could find a new role. 

The 12% drop to 682,000 resignations in the sector was the biggest single month decline since April 2020. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show in the finance and insurance category workers handed in 100,000 resignations a 7.3% decrease from 109,000 in July, at the same time, resignation sort of on lower wage workers than 956,000 August resignations and leisure and hospitality are the most recorded in a single month. According to records that go back to 2000. white collar workers are becoming more conservative, whereas food service workers are still quitting and finding higher wages said Andrew Flowers a labor economist at upcast a recruitment software company.

Overall layoffs in August remain near pre pandemic lows. But workers fears about an uncertain future are growing amid a spate of recent high profile layoff plans at Goldman Sachs Group Incorporated, tap incorporated and Facebook parent meta platforms incorporated.