An average of about four million Americans quit their jobs every month in 2021. Let that sink in a bit. Los Angeles, CA, the second largest city in the nation, is made up of about four million people. The workforce saw entire cities the size of L.A. leave every single month in 2021.
To use an over-used, under-appreciated and so 2020 word, that’s unprecedented. Who are these people saying goodbye to their aprons, stocking jobs, or desk chairs? Where are they going? The best question, why?
Full disclosure, I’m a proud member of the Great Resignation, or the flood of people leaving their current jobs. For me, the reason was personal as much as it was professional. Working from home during the pandemic and being away from loved ones for so long, really showed me what I valued and cared about in life. News flash—it wasn’t spending 9-to-10 hours a day at work.
People have come the realization that their time is valuable. After so many have spent so much time away from the things and people they loved—or have lost those people over the last two years. Reducing a commute here and there, being able to plop in a load of laundry between meetings, and yes, maybe even the comfortability of wearing shorts and professional top, turns out was worth more than whatever many businesses were willing to pay. When I did a report on this for KOLD 13 in Tucson in May 2021, local businesses there were getting ready for the “future of the workforce.” Hybrid models were envisioned to take off as many people enjoyed working from home, but some need or want an office space. But still, millions continued to flee the traditional workforce.
In November 2021, the month when a record 4.5 million Americans turned in their notice, retail saw 4.4 percent of its labor force leave. Leisure and hospitality sectors reported 6.4 percent of its sector said goodbye, and as a subcategory of that, accommodation and food services lost nearly 7 percent. I think these numbers are the most telling. This data shows exactly who is leaving, and I think it clarifies the ‘why.’
Think about the strains these industries felt during the pandemic, not only from supply chain issues, but customer relations, business-to-business, and the whole gambit, including a more unruly clientele. Inflation has caused a big worry for many. Retail, hospitality, and food services are traditionally lower-paying jobs. Food prices have risen by more than 6 percent and energy by almost 30 percent. People cannot make ends-meet with the same wages, plus values are shifting in a new time. Take other countries looking at, or implementing, four-day work weeks or instituting laws sanctifying weekends.
Where is everyone going? The data is still coming out on that, but time will tell. This new era of employment and opportunity can, and should, be seen that way. It’s a time for the workforce and workplace to be reinvented to fit modern life and society. Let’s hit the ground running with it.
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