This Monday, like every year since September 5, 1882, the United States celebrates Labor Day. This time the nation commemorates the date in an environment of uncertainty due to the ravages of the global economy and geopolitical tensions.
In this context, an unprecedented phenomenon continues in the American labor world, baptized by experts as “the great resignation”.
This trend and the collateral effects it is leaving in the workplace result in unprecedented data in 140 years of celebrating this national holiday. Also for the first time there are more jobs available than job seekers in the country, according to reports from the Department of Labor, which marks a difference with moments of uncertainty in the labor market in other times.
The month of June closed, according to records from the Division of Job Vacancies and Job Rotation Surveys (JOLTS, for its acronym in English) of the Labor portfolio of the North American nation with 4.2 million resignations. In May and April the situation was similar. Records for July and August will be released this month.
There are about 11 million seats uncovered in different sectors of the US economy, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Parallel to “the great resignation”, another phenomenon gains strength that could be the transition to leaving it, which the experts who monitor the labor market have called “the silent resignation”.
This new trend has been characterized by the fact that the worker limits himself to carrying out the functions agreed upon for his position, generates little empathy with his work environment and does not assume a commitment to the mission and vision of the company, in addition to weighing free time and quality of life, among others, without abandoning employment.
At a store on the outskirts of Washington, DC, Supervisor Aleida R. told the voice of america that “people don’t want to work”. They even offer customers job opportunities over the public address system, but the positions remain open, including positions for security guards and warehouse assistants.
“At night it’s hard for us, there are only two (employees) left to be with all the movement,” he says as he runs from the cash register to the area where the carts left by customers have been disorganized to put them in their place.
US agencies and numerous industry experts believe that the trend of “the great resignation” is declining after comparing the moments of maximum mass resignations in 2021which accumulated more than 47.8 million people who left their jobs at will.
The sectors of the economy that have experienced this flight are as diverse as the ages, origins and levels of professionalism of the workers. Office workers, construction, education, health care and customer service, among others, are the jobs that are becoming vacant.
The observers of the subject who take the pulse of the labor market agree that the behavioral patterns prior to the COVID-19 pandemic about how work was approached have changed, and the trend is that “it will not be reversible”, in large part. by new technologies and remote and self-employment offers that continue to rise.
The psychotherapist Enid Candelaria Vega, specialized in labor consulting, comments to the VOA in Washington DC that the root of “the great resignation” is sustained in a series of guidelines on how we see work in this new time, in the so-called “return to normality”.
Because millions of workers in the United States and other developed economies have redefined their commitment to work and their loyalty to a company, the valuation of net income to cover necessities also emerges, compared to the real price it can have on the quality of work. life, what the expert calls “emotional salary”.
“We had not taken the time to recognize how much we were investing in going to work, this is another face (…) We have many companies that have adopted this remote work and that is an option that a professional can have, we are no longer inhibited in a limited space because opportunities are expanding, and not all those who resigned have lost their jobs or are not working,” says the expert.
Why do employees quit?
Human Resources company ClearStar has tried to find an answer to shed light on what is happening in the labor market in the United States in order to get answers.
In its blog on the situation of mass resignations, the company comments that it is about first answering the question what employers do: “Why do your employees quit their jobs so quickly and how to prevent them from leaving?”
Earlier this year it did a nationwide survey to find those answers for its customers and partners. The data from that study indicates that one in four workers – that is, 23% – is looking for a new job and 9% have already considered an alternative for the rest of 2022.
“More than half of those surveyed – 52% – left their job early in the first half of 2022. And as for why workers were considering leaving their jobs, one in two workers surveyed said they were looking for better pay and benefits “, explains ClearStar from their studies.
This is a consideration that weighs heavily on other experts who have put the issue of wages on the table, since the struggle to reach a minimum wage of 15 dollars at the national level continues to stall. Only some of the most progressive cities – based on local legislation, such as Washington DC and other cities – have decreed that amount as the minimum wage for workers in any sector.
A fight that has sponsored the movement Fight for $15which brings together -according to its website- more than a million workers in 100 cities in the country to lobby at the national level for that objective, in addition to the right to unionize, a fight that began in 2015, long before the inflationary rise that began with the pandemic in 2020 and that this year reached historical peaks of 9.2% in the United States.
From the federal government, the minimum wage remains stagnant at $7.25 an hour, unchanged since 2009. Data from national surveys indicate that 32% of the active population of the United States (53 million people) would be receiving less than $15 the hour at their jobs, according to the demands of the Fight for $15 movement.
A report by the Economic Policy Institute, based in Washington DC, maintains that 17% of low-wage workers in the hospitality industry are “victims of theft” due to a common practice of employers that consists of keeping the base salary at a minimum -in many cases below 3 dollars an hour-, and that workers must complete with tips.
The company’s investigation ClearStar determined that sectors such as hospitality and tourism -plus other services- have experienced a massive outflow of employees. On the other hand, the industries that have become more attractive to attract talents are computer science, information technology, health care, communications and retail.
Does “silent resignation” have a positive side?
The psychotherapist Enid Candelaria Vega comments to the VOA that the arrival of the “silent resignation” also has a positive side, despite the “fright” it could represent for employers who must accept that their staff is no longer always available to offer “that extra mile” so valued in the work environment.
Practice and experience have shown that this requirement, considered “normal” until before the pandemic, was a mechanism “to squeeze the employee,” argues the expert.
“The phrase of the essential worker had a lot of impact especially in the pandemic, recognizing how important their work is, and asking themselves, ‘if I am essential, why are you treating me that way?, and if my work is valuable, why? Do I have to be doing things that don’t concern me?’ We have to recognize these dynamics as an employer, assume that they are happening and will continue to happen,” says Vega.
With this, in the new context that the “silent resignation” is creating, the experts see a phenomenon in which the employee “only focuses on doing his job” and eliminates the sense of constant competition with his colleagues and, even more, give up on creating a sense of “belonging” to the company.
Observers of the phenomenon point out that the employee minimizes friendly relationships within the work environment and of navigating in camaraderie -as it flowed before the pandemic- which in turn translates into “a great liberation”.
The worker takes this modality in silence as an alternative before leaving the job and adding to the statistics of “the great resignation”. In many cases, the decision comes because they are not ready to leave the job due to financial commitments, savings accounts, among other reasons.
Another outstanding aspect in this process is that employees are not willing to work excessively to “avoid fatigue” and, on the contrary, the sense of seeking balance between personal and work life prevails with what is earned in spare time. quality in life.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized in 2019 the dangers of fatigue due to overwork, “which can have long-term impacts on the physical, emotional and mental health” of the worker.
The one that at the moment continues to take its toll on occupational health throughout the world with symptoms and mixtures of “overwhelmed by exhaustion”, mental confusion and poor performance at work that increases the pressure and anxiety on the worker.
Faced with this situation, experts recommend employers not to panic over the “loss of productivity” in companies, and say that instead they should take advantage of this silent phenomenon of “resignation” to create better conditions for staff and encourage creativity, despite resistance.
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