The Great Resignation led to 4.3 million Americans quit jobs in August. This trend is here to stay.

[Dr. Jack]

Source: USA Today

The musical chairs game that’s roiling the U.S. jobs market isn’t a blip, but rather marks a longer-lasting shift in leverage from employers to workers, experts say.

About 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in August, the Labor Department said this week, the most on records dating back more than two decades. Many bolted to take advantage of 10.4 million job openings, often at higher pay -- a historically high figure.

A large number of employees are resigning and moving to jobs that allow them to work remotely or at more flexible hours. Others are burned out after toiling away during the COVID-19 pandemic, switching careers after the health crisis led them to rethink their priorities, or opting to stay on the sidelines until the infection surges fueled by the delta variant ease..

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/the-great-resignation-led-to-43-million-americans-quit-jobs-in-august-this-trend-is-here-to-stay/ar-AAPyAoR?ocid=ientp

[jpak]

1. I see a lot of help wanted signs at convenience stores

$25 an hour

Paid vacation

Health insurance

And they still have problems filling positions

Insane

[dutch777]

2. A local McD's here in PA is even offering hiring bonuses for coming on the team

We just drove across the country and I think it was in Iowa we saw big billboards for Perdue and Tyson and one of them was offering $8k sign on bonuses. Clearly they are desperate but they treated their people like c**p during the pandemic and those that could left and everyone else remembers and the are other better jobs than slicing and dicing dead animals.

[lark]

11. Some of these places aren't getting the hiring done because of incompetent managers.

A manager from a 7-11 down the street from my son who's had a Help Needed sign for months called my son Monday & set up an interview after he applied online the previous night. Mgr. called back an hour later & postponed it for a few days & hasn't called back. It's like that a lot in the restaurant business so part of the fault for lack of workers is incompetent mangers.

[dutch777]

40. Management has the same retention issues probably as employees

And some of the places the "premium" for being a manager is like $2/hr. Worth the hassle? Probably not.

[samnsara]

3. our local Buzz Inn ( ranchers delight) had a big sign on their front door with new hours..

..stating that they cant get help because the Government is paying them $$ to stay at home blah blah blah..while the Mc Donalds right down the road just removed their "help wanted starting at 16$ an hr" sign. Guess Buzz Inn needs to pay a wee bit more instead of bitchin' about the guvment...

[dutch777]

41. There's a sweet spot...they need to actually work to find it. Same old ain't it.

Just want to use the old algorithms, attitudes and cost/benefit analysis and it won't work. Times have changed. Duh! Yep, we will pay more and the world may actually be a better place for it.

[EYESORE 9001]

4. Working all hours and every holiday

On your feet continuously. Dealing with rude and abusive customers. The ever present possibility of random violence. Insane not to take that job? Hardly.

[jpak]

16. It's not just convenient stores or fast food places

They're everywhere

[Backseat Driver]

14. IDK - a lot of high wheelin' and dealin' and store-level personal chaos

Last edited Fri Oct 15, 2021, 07:26 PM - Edit history (1)

closin' in for market share and executive bonuses - not to mention the coming needs for customers to both "get a charge" and/or a fill-up outta stopping in for the tasty coffee, the soda, a water bottle (more plastic for the ocean), or drivin' by for the weekend social necessities of life: gossip, lottery, beer, and cigarettes. And there's so many ways to hate your wage slaves for a winning corporate set up for employee churn back to the bottom of the pay ranges...

https://csnews.com/eg-group-sale

[Midnight Writer]

5. I watched the Help Wanted sign at local McDonald's go from $11 to $12 to $14 and now at $15.

And they are still having trouble finding workers.

[madville]

13. And they have had to raise prices to cover that

A 1/4 pounder combo meal here has risen around 30% in price over the last year or so. Used to be $6.99, now it’s $8.99.

I was getting a baked potato at Wendy’s the other day and was surprised to see that their Baconater burger combo is now almost $14. They’ve also raised the prices on the chili and potatoes about 30-40% and reduced the chili container size, a large is now about the size a small was two years ago.

[HUAJIAO]

20. madville.. eeekkk do you actually EAT that stuff??

It's gonna kill ya!



Or just the baked potato?

[madville]

21. I don't eat anything from McDonalds lol

I will go through the drive thru though and get a $1 coffee or unsweetened iced tea though, that’s all I ever get from there.

Yep, I will get the chili or a baked potato from Wendy’s on occasion, about the closest thing to real food on any fast food menu lol.

[HUAJIAO]

22. Whew!! I feel better, now.. I was worried about ya..

Try the Wendy's salads sometime. they are fairly real too, when one is in a rush....

[Dr. Jack]

6. I wonder if this is a course correction after the Great Recession

After the economic downturn in 2008, many older workers decided not to retire and millennials were left with low paying jobs. Now, between older workers finally retiring, the deaths from the pandemic, and many people realizing just how awful they were being treated when they finally got a break from work, there seems to be a lot of pent up demand from younger workers break out and finally achieve success in this country. It was bound to happen eventually. It appears that day has arrived.

[OldBaldy1701E]

9. Not soon enough for some

But I agree with you.

[Lonestarblue]

7. Employers have had the upper hand for decades.

The work-life balance has become a big issue over the years as employers demanded ever more hours on the job. Before I retired several years ago, I was working 80+ hours a week, certainly not because I wanted to but because the company would not hire enough staff to get the work done, which was driven by state deadlines.

I’m glad to see these changes. Maybe employers will cut their enormous bonuses to CEOs and top managers to pay employees now.

Edited to add: It’s no wonder that many people do not want to continue working in retail and restaurants where they’re often treated like crap by managers and MAGAT customers screaming at them for requiring masks or checking that they’re vaccinated.

[Dr. Jack]

10. When I was in college in the early to mid 2000s

They preached the virtues of working crazy hours and making work your #1 priority in life. The expectation was that a 9-5 Monday-Friday schedule is for lazy people who didn’t care about their careers. You need to be available 24/7 for your employer or else you would never be successful. Absolute, unsustainable horse shit. I hope we are finally getting out of this mindset and workers don’t feel pressured to work insane hours and give up all joy in life just to barely get by financially.

[Ligyron]

25. The cellphone becoming ubiquitous didn't help.

Well, it helped corporate as now you may just as well be wearing an ankle bracelet.

Better be available 24/7 and no excuses. Stories of family vacations being terminated early not uncommon.

So glad I retired when I did. Whew…😋

[C Moon]

27. Yep. If you have a smart phone,

many jobs now expect you to answer email or text at any hour of the day. Whereas it used to be you’d stay late at office. Now the employer gets free hours while you’re at home.

[Jimbo S]

33. The work around:

is to not buy a smart phone. "Sorry, you won't be able to get a hold of me. I don't have a smart phone." It's worked so far, but Saturday will be the day I join modern society.

[bucolic_frolic]

8. For corporate America, it's even worse than that

The pandemic response was to work at home and gig at home. Laptops were hard to find, and used laptops doubled in price, as America filled the home office with IT. Everyone explored a home business, many started one. YouTube was a big help. Now I would daresay the majority of these people have some form of home-based income. The next logical place, and there are videos all over YouTube about it, is establishing passive income streams. It doesn't have to involve investment capital. It can be a product, a method, software, a blog or newsletter, a repair or maintenance service. Recurring cash flow in other words.

America is coming to unity. Working for yourself where the profits are yours sure beats working for the man.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. "Working for yourself where the profits are yours"

However the one limitation of that with "online" is that 3rd party who provides you (and price gouges you for) that access.

I.e., "there's always a catch".

[70sEraVet]

18. I wonder if college-debt is a factor in young people avoiding jobs that offer a steady paycheck?

If they have large college debt, but can't find a well-paying job, then their only options may be

1) Take a low-paying job, and watch a large portion of their paycheck go toward paying off that seemingly endless debt

Or

2) Get a couple of part-time gigs that are more-or-less 'under the table'.

[HariSeldon]

36. Working for yourself requires additional skills

I left full-time employment to start a consultancy during the pandemic. There were a number of factors in play affecting the timing of that decision. But it has been a struggle to learn the government filings necessary, to set up a marketing strategy, to chase down clients when they "forget" to pay invoices...it was a lot, and all of it outside my area of expertise (software development and related technology). Now someone at a fairly well-known tech hardware company with a reputation as a good place to work wants to pay a lot of money for my skills and experience, enough that I couldn't say "no." It was a close thing, though. I just worried about lean times where I might be "forced" to take jobs I didn't want to do.

[blueinredohio]

15. And I thought it was either

they were lazy or collecting all that extra unemployment.

[multigraincracker]

24. It's that damn Free Market.

Supply and demand. Low supply of good jobs at a fair wage. Ayn Rand is rolling in her grave.

[question everything]

17. Among them mothers who have to stay home when schools send kids home

because someone was diagnosed with covid.

[DownriverDem]

19. Those in their 50s

are saying they can't get hired because of their age.

[LittleGirl]

32. Ding ding ding! That's it right there.

I'm going to be 62 next week and I haven't been employed since I turned 50. Nobody and I mean no body wanted to even call and interview me. I applied for hundreds of positions that were lower than my previous job standing and couldn't even get a "thank you for applying but you're too old for this posting."

It's honest to goodness Age Discrimination! But to prove it, the person being discriminated against has to prove it to a court. It's b.s.

[Bucky]

39. Of course they can't *say* you're too old

And the reality is that someone taking a job at 62 is almost certainly gonna stay there longer than a 30 or 40 something. You're smarter at figuring things out, you've had more people experience, and you're likely to be more reliable (and less likely to lose a day for family reasons).

Most HR offices are backward thinking

[LittleGirl]

42. HR is company only

Their mission isn’t to assist the employee, only the employer.

In Tucson I was told that since I’d been out of the workforce (living abroad) more than two years, a temp agency wouldn’t interview me for assignments. I was so stunned, I blurted out…”what about Mothers coming from having babies? Are they ever considered?” I said that before the look on her face changed to guilt as she looked away. I knew the moment was over and never heard back from them again. I was mid-50 then.

This blanket dismissal is why companies fail to see the potential in older workers, like you said.

[OnlinePoker]

23. It's happening here in Canada as well.

Starting salary at a local A&W restaurant is on the board for $17.50 and they still can't find anyone. Some places are closing Mondays since there is less traffic that day and they can spread their limited work force to other days of the week.

[Ligyron]

29. My favorite Chinese closed shop.

I knew the owner and family from way back but I went there one day and they were just gone. Their sign, menu, hours and everything gone and with no way to contact anybody to find out what happened.

Maybe, in fact probably, they figured they had enough money and to continue just wasn’t worth the hassle.

More than a few stories like that and from every last place on earth too I bet.

[OnlinePoker]

30. Towards the end of the Downton Abbey series, people didn't want to work in service any more

We could be going through a paradigm shift now where people don't want to work in the service industry any more. People are waking up to the fact that life is more than just a paycheck. You have to be happy with the work you're doing, and the drudgery of the service industry just isn't worth it.

[BigmanPigman]

26. I know that jobs in Education

are not able to be filled. Teachers were offered early retirement in some districts when Covid hit. The job became impossible and a lot retired early. Now that teachers are back in the classroom they don't have enough teachers or substitutes. Many don't want to be mistreated now that schools are back to in-person learning and many still don't have vax mandates.

[kimbutgar]

28. I work for a small move management company that pays pretty well starting at $25 an hour

My boss put out job openings and no one applied. We have so much work and have to delay customers. My other job as a substitute teacher is also one that I get calls all the time and I’m booked between both jobs. I only planned to work 3 days a week but I can easily work 5 days.

[Angrius]

34. Corporate Starvation wage structure has met its end

I truly hope that many of these corporate overlords who created an environment of vulture capitalism start losing big.

They deserve it because of their greed.

[love_katz]

35. Exactly!

The Corporate Fat Cats are getting just what they most deserve.

[roamer65]

37. Only reason I stay employed by a corporation is health insurance.

The minute we pass universal, single payor health insurance I am out.

I’ll work contract or similar until 65.

[Bucky]

38. Maybe Republicans will finally support more jobs training programs...

...and work-from-home initiatives

[Deep State Witch]

43. My husband left his job at the end of September

We're going into business for ourselves. Much less stress, and the only person screaming at him is me.

[speaktruthtopower]

44. I think a lot of this is women staying home with their kids

because of COVID. Saw a stat in another article where women were net quitting and men were net getting hired.