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In November, 4.5 million U.S. workers chose to quit their jobs, almost 3 percent of the national labor force, according to the U.S. labor department.
The figure set a monthly record, topping the record 4.2 million set the month before, for the two decades the department has been tracking the quit rate.
As of 30 November, there were 10.6 million open jobs in the U.S., the labor department reported, slightly fewer than the 11 million at the end of October.
However, the number of unfilled jobs climbed to 12 million at the end of December, the department reported.
The highest turnover rate, about 6.1 percent, happened in restaurants, hotels, and other sectors of the low-paid hospitality industry. The labor shortage set off by the economic recovery has given workers more bargaining power to win better pay and working conditions and emboldened them to walk away from soul-sucking jobs.
Retail, professional and business services, health care, and social assistance industries also are seeing high quit rates.
Burn Out
On the health care workers front, as the data shows, and how states are even telling the un-vaxxed to come to work, they are leaving largely due to COVID War burnout. This in turn is also putting more stress on the hospitals and the healthcare system.
Workers who switch jobs are getting pay raises faster than those who stay planted, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
Speedy pay hikes are partly responsible for quickening inflation, both a result of the unexpected strength of the U.S. economic recovery, The New York Times noted.
In November, 6.9 million people were unemployed who wanted to work, leaving two available workers for every three open jobs, The Wall Street Journal noted.
However, many jobs require advanced skills that many workers lack. Other potential workers are hanging back for fear of catching the COVID virus or a variant, while others are forced to remain at home to care for children or supervise children schooling at home.
The U.S. workforce participation rate—the number of people working or actively looking for a job—was 61.8 percent in November, compared to 63.4 percent in January 2020, the month before COVID arrived.
TREND FORECAST: As we had long noted, as the rich got richer, the Bigs got bigger, and the corporate ladder was removed for just a few to climb… the Great Resignation is about workers of Slavelandia no longer wanting to slave on the global plantation, and the desire to find better job prospects and/or working for themselves to create OnTrendpreneur® opportunities.
We have also detailed these trends in articles such as “Structural Changes” in Workforce as Millions Quit Their Jobs (19 Oct 2021) and The Great Resignation: Will Jobs Come Back? (16 Nov 2021), which underscore one of our Top 2022 Trends: Unionization… workers taking more power, unionizing, and using their newfound leverage to improve their work lives.
TREND FORECAST: Some workers now sitting on the sidelines will return to the labor force when the COVID virus wanes and when personal savings stockpiled from government support checks run out.
However, others—especially workers over 50—have cashed out and retired early. These vacancies create opportunities for younger workers not only to move up, but also to use their clout to negotiate higher pay and friendlier working conditions.
The flip side: the economy will remain chronically short of key experience for years to come and a long-term shortage of skilled workers will dull economic vitality.