Peace out, girl scout
Image: Mascha Tace/Shutterstock
It’s currently the best time for Americans to switch jobs compared to any point in at least two decades, per new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta published over Labor Day weekend.
🔢 By the numbers… US employees who left for a new employer earned a median annual raise of 8.5% in July, a record high based on federal data going back to early 2002. The pay gap between workers who switched jobs and those who stayed put also came in at an all-time high (2.7 percentage points).
- A separate analysis of data from 10 million workers found the median wage increase for recent job changers was 16.1%... compared to 7.6% for those who stayed in place.
- Most Americans (60%) who switched employers from April 2021 to March 2022 saw their inflation-adjusted earnings increase, per a recent Pew Research report. Among workers who stayed put, less than half did.
🇺🇸 Zoom out: Across America, the Great Resignation is still in full swing. Roughly 4.2 million workers quit their jobs in July – near the record highs of the past year – and there are still ~2 job openings listed for each one of the 5.7 million unemployed persons in the country.
- This also shows no signs of slowing down. A recent McKinsey study found 40% of Americans plan on leaving their jobs before the end of this year.
đź“Š Flash poll: Have you left your job for a new employer within the past 12 months?
Other (student/stay-at-home parent/etc.)
See a 360° view of what the media is saying →
Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that the ongoing Great Resignation and tight labor market is a sign that many workers are seeking more fulfilling lives, and no longer assume they’ll spend a career putting in long hours and pursuing ambitions.
- Others contend that workers continue to quit in droves due to four main things: money (or lack thereof), safety (largely due to Covid), flexibility, and respect from employers.
- “Out of office: The pandemic and the new meaning of work” –WaPo Editorial Board
- “Why so many workers are still quitting their jobs” –Dana Peterson, CNN
- “Loud demands, not quiet quitting, are the legacy of Labor Day” –Houston Chronicle Editorial Board
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that today’s job market illustrates a country-wide “flight from work” where ​​vast numbers of grown men and women are uninterested in working, despite job applicants having more bargaining power than at any time in recent memory.
- Others contend that US politicians should prioritize admitting some of the millions of immigrants who come to America seeking work as a solution for widespread staffing shortages across the entire economy.
- “The Americans Who Never Went Back to Work After the Pandemic” –Nicholas Eberstadt, American Enterprise Institute
- “Immigrants Can Help Relieve the Labor Shortage” –Jason L. Riley, WSJ
- “Relaunching Labor Day” –Washington Times Editorial Board
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