The ‘Great Resignation’ – The Trend Continues – Job Seeker Considerations

The ‘Great Resignation’ – The Trend Continues – Job Seeker Considerations

In a previous article, I described ‘The Great Resignation’ and its impact on the workforce.  The trend continues as 4.5 million workers voluntarily quit their jobs (rising by 370,000) in November of 2021 (BLS.gov), matching September 2021 metrics for the highest on record.  Layoffs rose by 191,000.  This accompanies the reduction of job openings by 10.6 million.  While economists note that workers’ capability to quit current positions for better jobs is a sign of a healthy economy, this trend could lead to higher wage inflation.  The current administration’s vaccination mandate for government workers and contractors has forced thousands of companies to lay off workers refusing to take the COVID vaccine.

Why are a record number of workers quitting their jobs?  Surveys are concluding the reasons are pandemic burnout, better career opportunities, and work priorities shifting – including preferences for work-at-home tasking, flexibility for work hours, and savings in commute expenses.  The new COVID-19 Delta- and Omicron-variants forced employers to reconsider shifting telecommuting employees back to the office while simultaneously reconsidering terminating office space and its overhead costs.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey (01/21) indicated telecommute work opportunities worked well during the pandemic, but companies did not expect the remote work to last this long.  Companies are reevaluating office space and moving towards a more significant percentage of a telecommuting workforce, saving millions in overhead expenses while earning greater profit margins.  One economic side-effect was workers started buying larger homes to accommodate home offices, quickly drying up inventory, and increasing housing prices.  A Pew Research (PR) survey indicated while 65% of remote workers missed interactions with colleagues, a GoodHire (GH) survey concluded 85% of workers preferred working remotely, even while 75% of companies wanted to see employees return to the office by mid-summer 2022.

What do these survey metrics mean for businesses?  Employers must target accommodations for the 68% (GH) of workers preferring to telecommute.  Employers may be able to offer lower compensation to 61% of workers willing to take a pay (and/or benefits) cut to work from home versus in the office.  On the flip side, 45% of workers are willing to quit their job (25%) and/or begin a search for new telecommute career opportunities if forced to return to the office full-time.  Additionally, the pandemic has forced companies to establish health-safety measures to protect onsite workers from infection.  Surveys concluded over 83% of workers wanted to see COVID-19 safety protocols in the physical workplace.  On the flip side, some workers are fighting the vaccine mandate, and may prefer to forego the shots and work from home. 

These numbers predict businesses need to revise recruiting methods, pay and benefits packages, and recognize that worker retention will be difficult if they are unable to offer flexible alternatives to their current and future workforce.  Companies will need to increase salaries (as well as keep up with inflation) and add extra hiring incentives to entice skilled workers.  Surveys indicated that only 15% of new job seekers would consider working full-time in an office.  In comparison, 85% prefer to apply for hybrid or full-time commuting career positions, and up to 10% (GH) would forfeit health and welfare benefits to sustain their telecommuting job.  Businesses will scramble to accommodate telecommuting equipment and Internet access as the work environment moves to a primarily telecommuting labor pool.

What do these survey metrics mean for workers and job seekers?  Essentially, workers seek ‘safe spaces’ – health safety, physical safety, and avoiding ‘stressful’ commutes and/or avoiding physical (potential health hazards) office interactions.  Skilled workers require higher salaries in a competitive economy to accommodate workspace requirements, equipment, and technology access (Internet, phone) in their ‘new-normal,’ home-based work environment.  Service workers (e.g., food, hospitality, healthcare, transportation, and logistics) are demanding higher compensation against the health risk of COVID-19 exposure.  Job seekers are targeting employers who are not forcing the vaccine, enabling flex or telecommute work for those refusing or unable to take the vaccine, while simultaneously protecting onsite workers’ health with multiple handwash stations and strict mask and/or distance protocol.  This enables job seekers to judiciously shop around for the best work environment and compensation package from competitive businesses seeking better-skilled candidates.

Dawn Boyer, Ph.D., owner of D. Boyer Consulting – provides resume writing, editing, publishing, and print-on-demand consulting.  Reach her at: Dawn.Boyer@me.com or visit her website at www.dboyerconsulting.com.

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The ‘Great Resignation’ – The Trend Continues – Job Seeker Considerations

The ‘Great Resignation’ – The Trend Continues – Job Seeker Considerations

In a previous article, I described ‘The Great Resignation’ and its impact on the workforce.  The trend continues as 4.5 million workers voluntarily quit their jobs (rising by 370,000) in November of 2021 (BLS.gov), matching September 2021 metrics for the highest on record.  Layoffs rose by 191,000.  This accompanies the reduction of job openings by 10.6 million.  While economists note that workers’ capability to quit current positions for better jobs is a sign of a healthy economy, this trend could lead to higher wage inflation.  The current administration’s vaccination mandate for government workers and contractors has forced thousands of companies to lay off workers refusing to take the COVID vaccine.

Why are a record number of workers quitting their jobs?  Surveys are concluding the reasons are pandemic burnout, better career opportunities, and work priorities shifting – including preferences for work-at-home tasking, flexibility for work hours, and savings in commute expenses.  The new COVID-19 Delta- and Omicron-variants forced employers to reconsider shifting telecommuting employees back to the office while simultaneously reconsidering terminating office space and its overhead costs.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey (01/21) indicated telecommute work opportunities worked well during the pandemic, but companies did not expect the remote work to last this long.  Companies are reevaluating office space and moving towards a more significant percentage of a telecommuting workforce, saving millions in overhead expenses while earning greater profit margins.  One economic side-effect was workers started buying larger homes to accommodate home offices, quickly drying up inventory, and increasing housing prices.  A Pew Research (PR) survey indicated while 65% of remote workers missed interactions with colleagues, a GoodHire (GH) survey concluded 85% of workers preferred working remotely, even while 75% of companies wanted to see employees return to the office by mid-summer 2022.

What do these survey metrics mean for businesses?  Employers must target accommodations for the 68% (GH) of workers preferring to telecommute.  Employers may be able to offer lower compensation to 61% of workers willing to take a pay (and/or benefits) cut to work from home versus in the office.  On the flip side, 45% of workers are willing to quit their job (25%) and/or begin a search for new telecommute career opportunities if forced to return to the office full-time.  Additionally, the pandemic has forced companies to establish health-safety measures to protect onsite workers from infection.  Surveys concluded over 83% of workers wanted to see COVID-19 safety protocols in the physical workplace.  On the flip side, some workers are fighting the vaccine mandate, and may prefer to forego the shots and work from home. 

These numbers predict businesses need to revise recruiting methods, pay and benefits packages, and recognize that worker retention will be difficult if they are unable to offer flexible alternatives to their current and future workforce.  Companies will need to increase salaries (as well as keep up with inflation) and add extra hiring incentives to entice skilled workers.  Surveys indicated that only 15% of new job seekers would consider working full-time in an office.  In comparison, 85% prefer to apply for hybrid or full-time commuting career positions, and up to 10% (GH) would forfeit health and welfare benefits to sustain their telecommuting job.  Businesses will scramble to accommodate telecommuting equipment and Internet access as the work environment moves to a primarily telecommuting labor pool.

What do these survey metrics mean for workers and job seekers?  Essentially, workers seek ‘safe spaces’ – health safety, physical safety, and avoiding ‘stressful’ commutes and/or avoiding physical (potential health hazards) office interactions.  Skilled workers require higher salaries in a competitive economy to accommodate workspace requirements, equipment, and technology access (Internet, phone) in their ‘new-normal,’ home-based work environment.  Service workers (e.g., food, hospitality, healthcare, transportation, and logistics) are demanding higher compensation against the health risk of COVID-19 exposure.  Job seekers are targeting employers who are not forcing the vaccine, enabling flex or telecommute work for those refusing or unable to take the vaccine, while simultaneously protecting onsite workers’ health with multiple handwash stations and strict mask and/or distance protocol.  This enables job seekers to judiciously shop around for the best work environment and compensation package from competitive businesses seeking better-skilled candidates.

Dawn Boyer, Ph.D., owner of D. Boyer Consulting – provides resume writing, editing, publishing, and print-on-demand consulting.  Reach her at: Dawn.Boyer@me.com or visit her website at www.dboyerconsulting.com.



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