The American workforce is still reeling from the pandemic restrictions, a massive labor shortage, and record-high inflation. Despite recent growth in the US economy and job creation, there are still more than 12 million vacancies. Workers are demanding more, and if employers aren’t willing to meet them at least halfway, they’re walking away in favor of competitors with better offers. As the cost of living continues to rise, is a new wave coming to the Great Resignation?
Regrets
It began in April 2021, when a record-smashing 3.8 million employees quit their jobs. By the end of January 2022, roughly 33 million Americans had fired their bosses. However, according to a new survey, seven out of ten workers who switched jobs regret their decision. They were disappointed that their new positions turned out to be different than they were led on to believe. The Muse CEO, Kathryn Minshew, whose company surveyed the 2,500 millennial and Gen Z job seekers, called it "shift shock."
"They'll join a new company thinking it's their dream job, and then there's a reality check," Minshew said. Interviews via zoom and not knowing the right questions to ask can hold back a prospect from getting a full gauge of a company's culture and a new role's demands. Minshew explained that, in turn, even more people are quitting, after switching jobs, instead of riding it out in the new position. The study found an even more staggering statistic: About 80% of the same group think it is okay to leave a job after just six months.
Avoiding a New Resignation
Besides being more transparent and upfront about the pros and cons of a position and its requirements, employers will have to cave elsewhere to avoid another mass exodus and exchange across the American workforce.
So how do you retain employees, keep them engaged, and increase their work ethic and performance when inflation is at a 40-year high and Americans face post-pandemic mental health issues? Raise wages and promote 401k programs, benefits, or stock options. Another way to attract applicants is to re-assess job requirements. Many companies are dropping degree prerequisites, which can help draw in candidates who can still get the job done, even without the credentials and student loan debt to back up the resume.
One of the main reasons the Great Resignation started in the first place was the belief that pay and working conditions were unfair. Americans believed they could find other jobs with better cultures and treatment from employers that paid just as much, if not more. Others pursued independent/self-employment opportunities that proved, if not more lucrative, at least more fulfilling. If employers want to obtain and hold new hires, they'll need to make the opportunity as attractive as possible, which means offering more.
The rising cost of gas, wholesale items, groceries, clothing, and other goods has pushed some Americans to the point they can barely make ends meet. Of course, inflation hurts on both sides of the hiring manager’s desk, but workers are trying to renegotiate salaries in record numbers now because yesterday’s dollar doesn’t hold the same purchasing power today.
~Read more from Keelin Ferris.
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