Emphasizing how one of the tightest labor markets in decades has made it difficult for employers to fill open positions, data released Tuesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that, in March, a record-setting 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in March, The Hill reports.
That’s around 3% of the US workforce and is slightly up compared to the previous month.
As companies and industries – from airlines to education staff- across the country struggle with staffing shortages, Bureau of Labor Statistics data also indicates a continued advantage for workers showing11.5 million jobs available.
However, in a trend dubbed the Great Resignation, American workers are also quitting their jobs in favor of better working conditions and hours and better wages as businesses offer higher salaries to lure new workers and to offset the losses, which resulted in increased incomes across the board.
Going as far as to call the current market “the greatest job seekers’ market” in history, the chief economist at ZipRecruiter, Julia Pollak, explained that the major reason for quitting for Americans is to find a remote opportunity at a time when employers require workers to return to offices.
Although the working world has begun a return to some level of normalcy after years of distant working through the COVID pandemic, it seems that the American workforce still overwhelmingly prefers working at home.
At least 61% of people who work outside of their home said they are choosing not to go in, as a Pew Research Center’s study showed earlier, and 76% said that their decision is made on their preference to work from home all or most of the time.
As employers begin to revert back to some pre-pandemic policies, there are other changes that come with the return to the office. One of the examples is Amazon which scrapped paid leave for COVID-19 infections although its employees can still use their sick days if isolation is needed.
During the pandemic, Amazon workers were offered up to two weeks of paid time off in case of COVID-19 infection and if they needed to quarantine.
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