“We are short-staffed,” read a sign outside a Sonic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Please be patient with the staff that did show up. No one wants to work anymore.”
Photos of signs such as that one have gone viral on social media as an increasing number of Americans are quitting their jobs, especially the younger generations. According to a report by CNN, a record 4.3 million people quit their jobs in August. This is the highest quit rate since late 2000, according to a Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these numbers, there are several factors why perceptions of work and the workplace are shifting. For years, Americans have demanded higher pay, better working conditions and more flexible arrangements, and the pandemic has only provided the perfect conditions to find jobs that better suit their needs without taking much of a risk.
Randall Waldron, professor of economics at John Brown University, has observed this significant phenomenon in the past year and a half. “It’s fairly rare to have a period of time where we have a lot of people leaving their current situation,” he said. “That really only happens normally during very positive growth periods in the economy, when new jobs are created fast and when people are confident that they will be able to leave their old job and find a new one in a relatively short period of time.”
But the current times we live in are anything but positive, so what is really driving what experts now call “The Great Resignation”? Waldron outlines three factors feeding into people’s decision to quit their jobs: changing work demands, government financial support and a recent, dramatic economic boom.
Different times, different demands
Changing times call for different demands when it comes to the workplace. While most people may think that remote work is a strong demand that workers have in light of the pandemic, research conducted by Amdocs shows that it’s not in the top demands for workers in 2022.
Among some of the requests employees prioritize is health and wellness (61%), professional training and development (56%) and corporate social responsibility efforts like diversity and sustainability.
“For some people, they’ve just experienced something different, and now they’re looking for a change of pace,” Waldron explained. “They like the flexibility that comes with [working from home], so the thought of going back to their old office or the restaurant they used to work in is no longer appealing.”
As LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky puts it, “workers are gaining the upper hand as businesses struggle to mount an economic recovery in the midst of a nearly two-year pandemic.” The younger generation of workers are demanding a work-culture reshuffle, and they will not leave empty-handed.
Reaping the unemployment benefits
Another driving factor that Waldron points out is how much government financial support during the pandemic is affecting people’s relationship with work.
“The government poured a lot of resources into the economy during COVID, and a lot of people received checks from the government for the first time, except for maybe college-aged Americans,” Waldron commented. “A lot of people got money, financial support and unemployment benefits that are more generous than they have ever been in the past.”
The argument behind cutting federal unemployment benefits is that they discourage people from work and hold back economic recovery. However, a Reuters report found that states that cut benefits see no difference in hiring.
As an opposing perspective, Waldron states that these unemployment benefits “lessen the urgency of keeping a job that you don’t like and that you intended to leave anyway.” The more financial freedom we might have, the more time we have to find a better job.
The post-pandemic economic boom
Deloitte’s United States Economic Forecast reported on Sept. 16 that, while the Delta variant slowed down the progress the vaccines brought, it did not slow down the economy. Experts even “expect GDP to remain above the pre-pandemic baseline level for the entire forecast horizon.”
With this post-pandemic economic boom in mind, Waldron points out that the recession caused by COVID-19 in 2020 was different than anything we have experienced in our lifetimes so far. “The drop was sharp and very steep when it hit back from March through July of last year,” he said.
Consequently, Waldron explains, unemployment rates skyrocketed to records we have not seen since the Great Depression. “Then, you got a rather dramatic rebound from that even though we haven’t fully recovered,” he said. “The rebound was quite dramatic that it has left employers short on workers.”
The global economy is, as expected, entering unfamiliar territory. Supply chain problems are slowing down the economic recovery significantly, and, coupled with inflation, this rapid economic growth might peter out. Can the younger generations feel optimistic about work?
Entering the workforce with confidence
It is not surprising that perceptions of work are shifting. But fear not, fellow young Americans. The current generations can and should be optimistic about the job market, Waldron said.
“In the long run, the pandemic isn’t quite a matter of that much hype, even if it’s kind of hard for us to fathom in the short run,” he stated. “For the generation of college kids who have now experienced a COVID environment for most of their college career, it feels permanent, but it’s not.” Waldron also highlights the constant creation of opportunity, technological advances and careers that can provide economic stability for the upcoming generations of workers. “Pursue work, look for opportunities, but don’t stress over the idea that there’s only one path for you,” he said. “You may land on some very hard times, but perseverance pays off.”
Featured photo courtesy of Unsplash.