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American workers continue to quit their jobs in record numbers, one factor in a labor market in which the number of job openings continues to dwarf the number of workers available.
The Wall Street Journal reports, on 9 December, that both the U.S. Labor Dept. and the job search site ZipRecruiter put the number of job openings at some 11 million; by contrast, only about 6.9 million people are seeking work.
The rate at which people are quitting their jobs, also known as “The Great Resignation,” has slowed only slightly and is certainly still a factor; see “‘STRUCTURAL CHANGES’ IN WORKFORCE AS MILLIONS QUIT THEIR JOBS” (19 Oct 2021), “RETAIL WORKERS QUITTING IN DROVES” (29 Jun 2021) and “‘THE GREAT RESIGNATION’: WILL JOBS COME BACK?” (16 Nov 2021).
Some see the quit rate as a sign of an economy healthy enough that workers have confidence in finding better jobs (with higher pay, more flexibility and better benefits), but it also indicates a falling labor participation rate, meaning that workers drop out of the job market altogether.
Since the start of the COVID War, Americans have been quitting their jobs more than 4 million times each month, and it’s not expected to change. Low-wage sectors are especially impacted by the imbalance between jobs and workers, making finding workers especially troublesome.
TRENDPOST: Since the supply vs. demand equation now favors workers, workers in less-desirable jobs have options they haven’t enjoyed in the past.
TREND FORECAST: Entire industries—not just in America—especially those like agriculture that have traditionally depended on low-paid labor with minimal skills, will be shaken up; see “FOOD INDUSTRIES DESPERATE FOR WORKERS” (14 Sep 2021) and “ROBOTS TAKE THE (FARM) FIELD” (4 May 2021). Also, look for unionization to continue to be a Top Trend; the greater the shortage of workers, the more powerful that trend will be; see “UNIONIZATION TREND ON TRACK” (7 Dec 2021).