Why are Americans choosing to quit their jobs in record numbers? (2023)

Introduction

The United States is seeing its highest “quit rate” since the government started keeping track two decades ago. Bill Whitaker speaks with employers who are scrambling to find help and people who left their jobs and aren’t looking back.

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Video

We've all seen signs in front of shops, restaurants and factories, we're hiring help wanted.

And now the omicron variant is taking a toll on the already depleted workforce.

We've wondered how there can be so many open jobs.

When nearly every employer seems to be offering better, pay benefits and even signing bonuses.

The government's jobs report released this past week tells us what has happened.

Well over 20 million people quit their jobs in the second half of 2021, some are calling it the big quit others, the great resignation.

But who can explain why this is happening bill whitaker reports.

He found the best place to look for real-time answers is the huge online job site linkedin, which calls itself the world's largest professional network.

The story will continue in a moment.

People have been living to work for a very long time.

And I think the pandemic brought that moment of reflection for everyone.

What do I want to do what makes my heart sing? And people are thinking if not now then when karen kimbrough is linkedin's chief economist, she has degrees from stanford and harvard and a phd.

From oxford used to work for the federal reserve.

And now has a bird's eye view of the u.s labor market.

We have this unique view of the data.

We can see across millions of members and what they share with us.

And we can see from employers millions of them that are posting jobs on our platform.

There is one person hired every 15 seconds right now on linkedin.

But linkedin's data on who is leaving jobs is most compelling millions of baby boomers, retiring early, but also millions of gen.

Z workers people in their teens and early twenties, many more women than men in all the highest quit rate since the government started keeping track two decades ago at the nationwide level, the number of americans quitting, their job is higher than ever higher than ever higher than ever do the data.

Tell you why we can see what sectors people are quitting, retail, sectors and hospitality sectors.

It may not just be worth it for some folks.

And so in some cases, people are quitting and they're, not yet, returning they're, taking a break americans are burnt out.

I like to think of it as a take this job and shove it measure it's just a sign of people saying, you know, I don't need this I'm out I'm out.

The most recent data show people quitting jobs across the board, 4.4 percent of all positions in education are open over 6 percent in retail and more than 8 percent in health care, open jobs in hotels and restaurants are nearly nine percent that's almost a million and a half vacant positions.

We do have openings, and we do need more employees.

Carl sobosinski owns several restaurants in greenville, south carolina.

He needs workers both in the kitchen and out front waiting tables.

What's the biggest challenge in attracting them and keeping the employees it's a problem that they're just not out there where we are.

We just don't have the workers out there looking for the jobs construction is another sector without enough workers at last count.

There were nearly 350 thousand open construction jobs, nationwide you're, finding it more difficult to find people right now.

Absolutely across the board across the board.

James jordan owns a fast-growing construction company in greenville.

We doubled our revenue year over year.

We don't have a work problem at all now it's, just a matter of finding the individuals to be able to do form the work it's, not a work problem.

It's, a worker problem, it's, a worker problem.

We came to greenville south carolina after seeing it on a linkedin data map, showing trends of geographic migration, lots of workers leaving big cities like san francisco and chicago and lots of workers moving to places like austin and miami and greenville that's.

Another big sign of this job market.

People are moving a lot of people are just opting because of affordable housing costs to choose more affordable places, smaller cities.

They give you more space will feel safer, um, and people are willing to try something new for what you'd pay to rent an apartment in san francisco.

You can buy a nice house in greenville.

It has attracted big employers like bmw and michelin, but also tries to nurture small businesses and startups.

Still you see all the same help wanted signs on greenville's main street as you would in any big city, many people believe that generous government stimulus and unemployment benefits are really what's keeping so many workers on the sidelines, no matter where they live.

The quick answer people say, is we're, still providing too many benefits and too many people can sit at home and and get a check.

I personally disagree with that our associates that didn't come back they're, not sitting at home.

They found other careers.

Other opportunities that fit their lifestyle better.

What we saw was that when these benefits were turned off when workers were no longer getting the benefits, they did not rush back to work.

What does that tell you that tells me that it's not just a function of the benefits that's, not the only thing that's going on in the heads of workers when they make that calculus about should I go back? Will I go back and for what job so is all of this producing a fundamental shift in the balance of power between employers and employees it's as if that social contract of work is being rewritten and right now, the worker is holding the pen.

There are just thousands upon thousands of available jobs in america right now and companies are eager to hire, but workers are being very choosy.

So employees are kind of in the driver's seat employees are in the driver's seat.

Right now workers want better pay and benefits, of course, but they're also demanding autonomy and flexibility, particularly in their work schedules and employers large and small simply have to respond.

I think flexibility is critical.

This is the employee's demand the employees they want flexibility.

And if you're an employer that won't that won't work with your employees to to be flexible with them, then you're going to be you're missing out.

I mean, you have to so is, it the case that gone are the days where an employer would say you're just lucky to have this job.

I think so I think so, and I think it's for the better, james jordan's construction company will pay an employee's tuition if they want to continue their education, perfect timing, come on in and their moving expenses.

If they relocate and like so many employers he's offering signing bonuses and flexible hours to new hires.

I understand there was one young man, one young recruit that you called every day for two months.

I did you really wanted this young man.

I did.

I did.

Did you finally get him? I finally got him.

He started last week monday, what a stunning turnaround from the spring of 2020, when the pandemic essentially shut the economy down, we had never seen anything like it when you lose 22 million jobs in just two months and it's unthinkable.

Kimbrough remembers that working mothers were and still are among those hardest hit as the pandemic robbed them of many of their child care options.

What we're seeing now is actually a really great story of resilience because we're seeing more and more women come back into the workforce, we're still missing a few million women by the way in the workforce.

We're, not fully there, still missing a few million women, um, but we're, seeing them come back and predominantly the women that we're missing are parents of young children.

They were hit the hardest.

I just decided to leave.

I had nowhere to go.

I had no hopes for employment.

Luckily, my husband was gainfully employed, and I was able to do that.

But I just walked away.

Melissa williams walked away from a marketing job in greenville in early 2021.

When the pandemic hit, she was balancing marriage motherhood and her career, you know, you're part of a trend.

Yes, there's like a fundamental great resignation people who are saying and doing what you did.

I I can do better than this.

This isn't.

This isn't fun.

This isn't me, like you said, I hit a wall, and I was done was that difficult? I mean, it was, it was very scary, because I have I've been employed since I was 17 years old.

I remember going home after I put in my resignation.

And and I just sat there on the couch, and I was like what did I just do? I just quit my job.

I have no job to go to we have bills.

We have a child.

We have responsibilities and my husband's like do you want to go for a walk? I was like I don't have anything else to do.

So we went for a walk.

It is challenging to go say, I'm, a go out on my own in general.

It really does take some work, but people want to have control kenzie biggins moved to greenville in 2017.

A few years after she founded works b, which pairs remote assistance with executives and companies that need administrative help.

You find executive assistants all over the country.

And you team them up with executives and companies also all over the country.

Yes.

So one can be in greenville and an executive can be in chicago.

Yeah, it's.

All about the best pairing for you kenzie had the idea for workspeed years before the pandemic made such arrangements common.

You were ahead of the curve, and then the curve caught up.

Let me just say this.

I got a lot of crazy looks for a very long time.

You know, walking into places and saying you should have a virtual executive assistant.

People looked at me like I had five heads.

They were like what pandemic hits and all of a sudden you're a genius.

We went from closing three to four people a month to closing 10 to 18 people per month, which is quite the jump in trying to get people paired.

And bringing in new eas, americans have really taken a liking to remote work, they're two and a half times as likely to apply to a job that's remote versus a job, that's, not remote how's that different from pre-pandemic.

So pre-pandemic, I think one in every 67 jobs was a remote job.

And now and now it's, one in seven one in seven one in seven jobs is remote now it's a huge huge huge rise in mo.

And I think what it is is that companies have realized that if they want to attract candidates, they kind of need to meet them where they are.

Now works be found me at the most opportune time.

Two months after quitting, her office job.

Melissa started with work speed.

The churn rate is finally showing in stripe so hallelujah, she's now, an executive assistant for three organizations you're working for three different bosses from home.

All virtually, yes, it sounds like you could be just as busy as you were before.

I am I am just as busy.

The difference is it's my choice.

Now you have a fourth job.

I do I do.

I am also an english instructor at greenville technical college works be and the ability to design your work.

Life does that make it possible for you to now.

Enjoy? What seems to be your passion, absolutely to teach english? Absolutely if it had not been for works b, I would have never been able to even give this a shot.

The pendulum of power may soon swing back toward employers, especially as workers who've quit their jobs deplete their savings, but karen kimbrough expects employees to cling to the flexibility.

They've fought for, I think actually that this trend towards having more flexibility could be permanent.

I honestly can say I don't see myself going back to an office ever ever ever honestly.

There is no office that could offer me what I have in my house, it's, not possible.