What is Requestor

This chapter examines spillover stress in the wake of the so-called “Great Resignation” in the United States after the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased turnover led to a shifting of work to those remaining in organizations. This additional workload impacted not only the departments where the turnover was occurring, but also those to whom they provided services. The chapter uses the case of a faltering marketing department in a four-year college in the Northeast United States missing deliverables, and the resultant stress on the requestor, who was relying on their services. Employment dates by title and role transitions by quarter are aligned to the deliverable challenges. Spillover stress from broken cross-departmental dependencies is indicated as a source of individual stress, and in particular, leadership transitions—both structural and within role—are identified as a particularly important source of missed outcomes. Potential monitoring and intervention strategies are suggested for departments in turnover crisis to attempt to prevent broken dependencies and spillover stress.