| | OCTOBER - 2022MANAGEHRMAGAZINE.COM8In MyOpinionUNDERSTANDING THE LABOR MARKET SHIFT By Jennifer Farinha, Human Resources Director, The Chefs WarehouseThe U.S. has had one of the most challenging labor markets in the last two years. In 2020, COVID 19 forced employers to lay off their employees or close their businesses. Unemployment was at an all-time high and government-provided unemployment benefits during this difficult time.In 2021, the U.S. economy started to reopen, companies needed to rehire their employees. However, they were surprised to see employees not as willing to return to work or their current employees resigning from their current jobs. According to Lawrence Katz, an Economics Professor at Harvard University, "We haven't seen a quit rate this high since 2000 when the U.S. Bureau and Labor Statistics began the current Job Openings and Labor Survey data series."Covid impacted people's health and the way they looked at their lives. Many people were caught in the hustle and bustle of life and had very little time reflecting on what they wanted. Covid allowed people to pause and rethink what was important to them. But during this time, they faced additional challenges.Some of the reasons people either quit or failed to return were:· Burnout is one of the top reasons people have quit or failed to return to the labor market. People were working long hours with long commutes. Employees were not happy with their current company or position.· Mental health issues became an issue due to isolation from others and regulations. Lack of money and food issues and domestic violence were other contributing factors. Covid began to wear on everyone, and people began acting out on social media.· Lack of childcare and online school became problematic for parents. Covid forced childcare centers to close and schools to turn to online classes. Relatives who once provided childcare for people were no longer able to due to covid. Parents had to help or teach their children with online learning.· People started to migrate to more affordable states. As a result, the labor shortages became more prevalent in states like New York, Illinois, California, and New Jersey. In 2021, we started to see patterns in which job seekers were looking for better pay and benefits, better life balance, and reduced commuting. Competitive pay and benefits have always been a top priority for job seekers, and people were willing to consider another job opportunity if the payor benefits were better. Many also realized that they could do their job from home and potentially more effective than working in an office. It allowed the flexibility to work and provided life balance. This new model conflicted with many companies' traditional work model of being in the office. The request to be 100 percent remote or hybrid from job seekers grew and being 100 percent onsite was no longer attractive to them.So how can employers utilize this information to retain employees in this new normal? It's essential to understand what employees value and audit your current company culture.
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