Americans are reassessing the
way they work. According to an August 2021 poll, more than half
of workers surveyed said they plan to look for a new job in
the coming year. Fifty-six percent of respondents said
adjustable working hours and remote work were a priority. And
while some people have left the workforce entirely, job security
and better pay are also top concerns for employees. It's time to find something that
is going to be better for my family, something more stable,
something that I can provide, where I don't have to go to work
and be like, oh, is he gonna, you know, am I gonna get fired
today? Or is he not going to be happy with, you know, the
service. In August 2021, almost 4.3
million Americans quit their job. The resignation rate hit a
20-year high of 2.9%. Working women have faced an even heavier
burden juggling childcare duties, virtual schooling and
their careers. We're all able to take a step
back in the last year and spend more time doing other things and
really question the value of what we're doing at work. A
number of people have made the decision I need to make a
change, I need to, I need to simplify.
Dubbed "The Great Resignation",
the exodus of workers has left millions of jobs unfilled and
created hiring challenges for companies. So what does the
realignment of the workforce mean for employees and
businesses? And what steps should you take before quitting
your job? U.S. workers are leaving their
jobs in droves. In August 2021, almost 4.3 million Americans
handed in their resignation, including 971,000 people working
in the leisure and hospitality industry, which includes hotels
and restaurants. Another 1.3 million workers were laid off or
discharged by their employer. Jessica Thomas is one of those
workers. She spent nine years in the restaurant business in
northern New Jersey before Covid hit. With cases surging and
customers avoiding dining out, the bar where she worked
temporarily shut its doors in the Spring of 2020, leaving her
without a job and a paycheck.
But also in that industry, you
know, if you're not working, you're not making money. So
there are no sick days. There's no vacation time. There's no
health insurance. Uncertain when her job would
restart, the mother of three found herself at home relying on
unemployment benefits. Her husband, Derek who works as a
bartender, faced a similar dilemma. A lot of people took the time
that, you know, when you have the time off and you're sitting
home collecting unemployment, they took the time to find other
careers. I didn't hear anything from the
owner until I think it was a day before when he was going to okay
we're reopening.
There was no communication, nothing. So for
me, that kind of just made me want to get out of that
industry. In August 2021, the separation
rate for hotel and food service workers, which includes quits,
layoffs and retirements, increased to 8.3% from 6.7% the
month prior. And while the pandemic has caused a severe
blow to employment overall, it is especially impacted working
mothers. As of January 2021, there were 18.5 million U.S.
mothers living with their school-aged children while
actively working, 8% percent less than a year earlier. On the
advisor brother-in-law, Jessica applied for a job at the Port of
Newark, New Jersey, home to the East Coast's busiest port. When I went in the gentleman at
the door said, "you know you're at the wrong building" and I
said "no, no, I'm at the right place." He goes, "no, no, the
the nurses for the Covid testing is the other building." I said,
"no no, I'm here to apply to be a longshorewoman." In Jessica's new job as a
longshorewoman, she helps load and unload cargo ships that
bringing electronic, apparel and consumer goods from around the
world.
Monday I drove 1,700 Toyota's
off of a ship. We got there at 7am we got done at 5pm. And you
drive the car off, get back in the van, go back up, drive the
car off until the ships done. Nobody leaves until the ships
complete. Her new job also gave her a
salary boost, double the pay of her previous job at the
restaurant with benefits ranging from paid vacation to health
insurance. And according to a May 2021 survey, Jessica is not
alone. Almost half of workers polled said they are rethinking
the type of job they want in the future.
More than half said they
would retrain for a new career if they have the opportunity. I feel like I'm always trying to
find balance in my life. Balancing with working and all
the kids stuff, my relationship with my husband. Everyday it's
like okay, how am I going to do this? How are we going to get
through this? According to an August 2021
study, almost a third of workers at large U.S. companies said
they are likely to change jobs in the coming year. Younger
workers are even more likely to uproot their careers.
Half of
Gen Z workers, particularly those struggling with
productivity and time pressure issues at work plan to switch
jobs in the coming year. According to one financial
planner, there are three solutions to remedy a non-ideal
work situation. For starters, small changes can make a big
difference. The easiest and least disruptive way forward for
you and your company is to tweak the job you already have. I would encourage employees to
go have what I would call a job crafting conversation with their
manager and say I love this 60%, this 40% not so much, what can
we do, and that could be everything from maybe you just
cut back to three days a week, and your job becomes a smaller
job.
Volunteering or side hustle
could be another way to cultivate experience and explore
new industries. Another benefit, after a couple months, you can
stop, continue or test out something else. And finally, if
you're in a job that is mentally or physically trying has a poor
work-life balance, or limited growth opportunities, that may
be a signal, it's time to look for a new job. But before
quitting financial planner Roger Ma advises to take a look at
your financial situation, and find out how much it costs to
fund your lifestyle. And then once you know that
number, let's just say that your expenses are $50,000 and to be
able to fund that you need to make $80,000 then you can start
to look at what are the roles, what are the positions, what are
the industries that pay that amount. It might be roles in a
similar industry that you're in, or maybe you've been in your
industry for a while and you're looking to pivot.
While searching for a new gig
financial advisors say, it's easier to find a new job if you
already have one, and it also puts you in a better position to
negotiate your salary. Leaving on good terms is another tip. Even though you may think I will
never come back to this company again a little insurance policy
would be leaving on the best note possible. So maybe you
leave that door open to boomeranging back at some point
in the future. The U.S. has seen a record
number of people quit their jobs. But what's led to the boom
in resignations? Several factors according to Anthony Klotz,
associate professor of management at Texas A&M
University. For starters, the pandemic forced Americans to
take a hard look at their lives and reevaluate their careers. But as a result of the deep
thinking that people did during the pandemic, I reasoned that a
number of them would plan life pivots coming out of that
sometimes those life pivots would not involve a job change
but in many cases, because of how central careers are to our
lives, it would it wouldn't necessitate a career change.
Working from home with another
factor. According to Klotz, a number of people who work
remotely at the start of the pandemic have been unwilling to
give up their autonomy. I think what we're finding is a
number of employees who worked remotely felt like they could be
more of themselves than they could in the office. And maybe
in some cases, they felt like there was less harassment, less
microaggressions, wear the clothes that they want, the hair
the way they want. Burnout and mental health are another
component. According to one survey, longer workweeks have
become even more embedded in business culture. And the
boundary between work and personal life has shrunk.
More
than 40% of workers at large U.S. companies said they had
difficulty setting work and personal life boundaries. And
almost 45% said they felt pressure to be reachable at all
times. There were lots of reports that
burnout was at all-time highs for individuals and burnout is a
pretty clear predictor of people quitting their jobs. Increased economic independence has also
led to the rise of resignations. According to an August 2021
study from Oxford Economics, American saved an additional $4
trillion during the Covid pandemic. While about 70% of
that gain went to the wealthiest 20% of Americans, analysts say
the economic uncertainty of 2020 forced many people to delay
their retirement plans until 2021. My sense is early retirements
are up. People taking a break from the workforce like their
own sabbatical is up. And that's supported by 2020 was only the
second year in the last 35-years where American household debt
actually went down.
Businesses across the U.S. are
struggling to find workers. In August 2021 there are 10.4
million job openings across the country. According to a Q3 2021
CNBC survey, half of small business owners say it's harder
to find competent people to hire than a year ago and nearly a
third so they have jobs they haven't been able to fill for at
least three months. But while the number of job openings has
reached historic proportions it might not be an entirely new
phenomenon. Since the Bureau of Labor
Statistics began tracking this back in 2000 the rate of
employee resignations per month has gone up fairly steadily over
the past 20 years. To entice workers back employers have come
up with incentives ranging from college tuition to signing
bonuses. In August 2021, Target announced a program to pay 100%
of its workers college tuition. The big box retailer said in
addition to tuition, it would cover textbooks and fees for
employees pursuing 250 college programs at more than 40
institutions. Chipotle, Starbucks and Walmart offer
similar debt free education programs. Other companies have
boosted pay. McDonald's announced in May it was raising
hourly wages at company o ned restaurants.
Walmart, U
der Armour and Walgreens ave announced similar pay hikes.
And according to analysts, hi ing new employees is only half
the battle. Companies face a teep penalty if they are unab
e to retain employees they al eady I think it's incredibly
expensive to lose talents and especially a lot of talent and
so that you've got the loss of maybe this person has been
thinking about it for some time, they're unhappy so you're not
getting the most out of them while they're there, and then,
you know, eventually when they decide to leave, you might have
to spend several months to be able to attract new talent.
According to a 2017 study by the
Work Institute, based on a median U.S. salary of $45,000
the average cost of turnover per employee is $15,000. That figure
includes direct costs, like exit processing and relocation
expenses, as well as training costs and lost productivity.
According to the group, the cost to U.S. employers from worker
resignations in 2016 alone was $536 billion. But despite these
issues, analysts say that the wave of resignations we're
experiencing could ultimately lead to an improvement for the
lives of both workers and the organizations that employ them.
I think the one silver lining
out of this is that the pandemic has gotten people to review or
question things that they've done in the past and maybe if
you have been on autopilot, it's given you that kick to say, you
know, this job, I've been on autopilot this doesn't really
align with my interests or my long-term goals and I'm gonna
make a change. With this many resignations that means
there's lots of talented employees who aren't working
right now for any number of reasons. And so a lot of
organizations see that as an opportunity as well, to improve
their organization and improve their talent pool.
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