The stories you want. The opinions that matter.
No, thanks
Tag: employment
Protestors demand living wage.

Why Is The ‘Quits Rate’ Skyrocketing Now?

As a writer, I get stuck every so often straining for the right words to tell my story or otherwise make the kind of progress I want on the piece I'm writing. Over the years, though, I've learned when to quit tying myself into mental knots over sentence construction and instead step back and rethink where my story is going.

This process is essentially what millions of American working families are going through this year as record numbers of them are shocking bosses, politicians and economists by stepping back and declaring: "We quit!" Most of the quits are tied to very real abuses that have become ingrained in our workplaces over the past couple of decades — poverty paychecks, no health care, unpredictable schedules, no child care, understaffing, forced overtime, unsafe jobs, sexist and racist managers, tolerance of aggressively rude customers and so awful much more.

Meanwhile, corporate bosses across America have been sputtering in outrage at workers this summer, spewing expletives about the fact that while the U.S. economy has been coming back ... workers (i.e., you) haven't!

"Labor shortage," they squeal, lazily accusing the workforce of mass laziness. Apparently, they charge insultingly that millions of workers got used to laying around during the pandemic shutdown, for there is now an abundance of jobs open for everything from restaurant work to nursing to construction work. So, the bosses and their political dogs bark that you people need to get back in the old harness and start pulling again.

Adding a nasty bite to their bark, several GOP governors cut off unemployment benefits to people, hoping to force them to work. Other businesses have proffered signing bonuses, free dinner coupons and other lures, while such notoriously mingy outfits as McDonald's and Walmart have even upped their wage scales in an effort to draw workers.

Yet ... no go. In fact, to the astonishment of the economic elite, the employment flow this year is going the other way! Record numbers of current workers in all sorts of jobs in every section of the country are voluntarily walking away. There's even an official economic measurement of this phenomenon called the "quits rate," and it is surging beyond anything our economy has experienced in modern memory — in April, 4 million workers quit; in May, another 3.6 million left, in June, 3.9 million said "Adios!" At a time when conventional economic wisdom dictates that, after a devastating 18-month downturn, people would be clinging to any paycheck they can get! The "quits" are so unexpected and so widespread that pundits have started dubbing this year "The Great Resignation."

What's wrong with people, why are such staggering numbers of Americans failing to do their jobs? But wait — maybe that's the wrong question. Maybe the corporate system's "jobs" are failing the people. Consider this: The most common comment by those who're walking out is, "I hate my job."

Specific grievances abound, but at the core of each is a deep, inherently destructive executive-suite malignancy: disrespect. The corporate system has cheapened employees from valuable human assets worthy of being nurtured and advanced to a bookkeeping expense that must be steadily eliminated. It's not just about paychecks, it's about feeling valued, feeling that the hierarchy gives a damn about the people doing the work.

Yet, corporate America is going out of its way to show that it doesn't care — and, of course, workers notice. So, unionization is booming, millions who were laid off by the pandemic are refusing to rush back to the same old grind, and now millions who have jobs are quitting. This is much more than an unusual unemployment stat — it's a sea change in people's attitude about work itself ... and life.

People are rethinking where their story is going and how they can take it in a better direction. Yes, nearly everyone will eventually return to work, but workers themselves have begun redefining the job and rebalancing it with life.

To find out more about Jim Hightower and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com

What Can We Do About America’s Skilled Labor Shortage?

What Can We Do About America’s Skilled Labor Shortage?

As the new decade begins, America is facing a difficult situation when it comes to employment and jobs. While more people than ever are graduating from higher education, they’re facing difficulty when seeking employment. Meanwhile, the nation faces an increasing lack of skilled labor, with trade professions having difficulty in staffing. With more people seeking employment after college, there’s increasingly a lack of people taking jobs in skilled trades, creating an employment gap based on education and training.

The Call Of Higher Education

With college education being more expensive than ever, why are more students attending when there are plenty of available jobs that don’t require a college degree? As a college education becomes more common, there’s increasing pressure from previous generations to pursue higher education. Often, attending college is now seen as the inevitable next step after high school. Public school systems tend to perpetuate this assumption. Half of the public school workforce consists of teachers. The other 50% are guidance counselors, nurses, speech therapists, etc. Regardless of staff status, many public school workers and teachers push their students to seek a college education, even when doing so is financially unwise.

Stigma Against Skilled Labor

In addition to the pressure to attend higher education, many Americans pursue college due to the seemingly prevalent stigma against careers in skilled labor. Trade professions, such as carpentry, plumbing, and repairs, often are seen as being “below” office work. This pushes many recent college graduates into part-time temporary or contract positions in an office environment. More than three million temporary and contract employees work for America’s staffing companies during an average week.

However, these skilled trade professions can actually pay more than the standard office job by a wide margin. Many skilled labor careers offer a high income, better hours, and better long-term prospects than college graduates will be able to find in other fields. Many capable individuals are, unfortunately, missing out on excellent careers due to widespread stigma against skilled labor.

Economic Impacts

The skilled labor shortage isn’t only impacting individuals’ career prospects; it also comes with a significant disadvantage for the nation’s economy. Current estimates suggest that the skilled labor shortage could cost as much as $2.5 trillion, with up to 2.4 million positions unfilled between 2018 and 2028. Additionally, the stigma against trade skills and the pressure to pursue higher education may worsen America’s existing student debt problems. Many students are forced to take out expensive loans to afford college tuition, pushing them into severe lifelong debt. This debt impacts all aspects of individual and national economics, with ripple effects as far-reaching as the settlement of life insurance payments. Approximately 86 percent of life insurance policies lapse without any benefit ever paid. With student debts climbing and more unfilled positions in certain industries, it’s clear that the nation will need to find solutions.

Fixing The Problems

Encouraging more people to pursue careers in skilled labor won’t happen overnight. Major cultural and structural shifts will need to occur for changes to take place long-term. During schooling, more students need to be made aware that there are acceptable career choices within skilled labor that pay well and don’t require a college degree. Not all of these careers require so-called “hard labor” either; according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are an estimated 7,880 tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers across the nation. Informing current students about their options ensures that a larger percentage of them will move into these positions in the future.

But what can be done for positions that are currently vacant? Is waiting for students to graduate from high school first necessary? There are several more immediate intervention options available, and almost all of them rely on educating and retraining unemployed or underemployed individuals. It’s technically possible for people to educate themselves for entry into these careers. There are over 119,000 libraries in the United States. Most have resources or learning materials available to help with retraining.

However, many of these careers require some degree of training through trade schools. Directing funds towards training and retraining could help, and in many cases, it already has. Several veteran programs allow veterans to gain an education that can help them enter into well-paying skilled trade jobs. Veterans of the Armed Services can apply for G.I. Bill benefits online, making it easier than ever to receive the necessary financial support for education.

As 2020 begins, the skilled labor shortage continues to pose problems for the nation’s employment and economy. However, with increased resources and promotion of skilled labor careers at earlier ages, it may be possible to combat the shortage and avoid continued employment gaps over time.

Why More Companies Are Offering Telecommuting

Why More Companies Are Offering Telecommuting

Nowadays, more and more businesses are moving operations and content online. There’s no easier place to see the effects of this than in advertising; in today’s world, if your business doesn’t have a quality website, it’s not likely to succeed in an increasingly digital environment. Any old website won’t do either – 38 percent of Internet users will stop engaging with a website if the layout is unattractive.

However, some companies are taking it one step further and using online technology to allow employees to work from home. Remote work and telecommuting are becoming more popular options for conducting work, and both employees and employers are seeing the benefits.

Telecommuting: The New Normal?

For most people, the idea of a full-time job includes a long commute to work, sitting at a desk in an office, putting in their hours, and driving home at the end of the day. However, as we enter into a new decade, the reality is often fairly different. Most of these jobs don’t necessarily need to be done in the office. Up to 64 million U.S employees – 50 percent of the workforce – hold a job that is compatible with at least part-time telework. As most Internet providers gradually increase their service speeds and computers become capable of handling more tasks, working from home is infinitely easier.

People have now become somewhat accustomed to this new era of fast internet speeds and easily-accessed information. In fact, as many as 47 percent of consumers expect websites they visit to load in just two seconds or less. The technology is firmly in place, and this is leading more employers to realize that a fair amount of work can be done not in the office, but on a home computer.

Save Time And Money Without Commutes

Working at home comes with a variety of benefits for employees, but the most significant benefit for a majority of employees is no longer having to worry about a commute. Driving to work takes time and money, cutting into employees’ pay through gas costs, car maintenance, and more. Being able to work from home allows employees to skip the commute altogether and instead spend crucial time focusing on tasks related to their jobs. Additionally, driving less is inherently safer; there are approximately six million car accidents in the U.S. each year, and working from home eliminates the risk of an accident during a commute to work.

Increased Accessibility

This push towards telecommuting and remote work has the potential to make life easier and more comfortable for the average employee but could be genuinely lifechanging for the disability community. Often, people with disabilities have an incredibly difficult time finding work due to limited accessibility in the workplace.

Consider, for example, a potential employee with hearing loss. Approximately 15 percent of American adults aged 18 and over report some trouble hearing. Even with ADA reasonable accommodations, it can be difficult to conduct routine business with hearing impairment, such as attending meetings, listening to phone conferences, and so on. Being able to work at home from a computer, with the bulk of work being through online, written communication, increases accessibility. This makes full-time work more available to a wider demographic, improving the lives of those with disabilities that make work difficult or otherwise impossible.

Not Fit For Everyone

Unfortunately, not everyone is able to access the benefits of working from home just yet – there are still a great many jobs that require employees to physically be present at the workplace. For example, the employment of medical lab technologists and technicians is expected to grow by 13% by 2026. While these jobs do deal heavily with technology, the additional equipment needed to perform the job, as well as sanitary spaces, makes a physical workplace mandatory.

However, for the many employees who work primarily on computers or through digital platforms, telecommuting is becoming a more realistic option by the day. As reliance on online technologies increases, it’s likely that more office-work jobs will transition to taking place partially or entirely online.

Sucking Up Again, Lindsey Graham Invents Trump Job Data

Sucking Up Again, Lindsey Graham Invents Trump Job Data

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Monday posted a lie-filled tweet about job numbers under Barack Obama and Donald Trump—and was immediately schooled.

“If @BarackObama’s jobs numbers were anywhere close to what we’re talking about with President @realDonaldTrump……the media would stop the Earth from rotating to make sure everybody heard about it!” Graham, a former Trump opponent who now appears in lock step with the president.


During the last 21 months of Obama’s presidency, the U.S. economy created  4,477,000 new jobs; in his first 20 months as president, Trump has presided over an economy that grew by 4,054,000.

As the New York Times’ Peter Baker writes, “job creation is no better now than it was under Obama. What is striking is that the recovery continues so long after it started.”

Read some more responses below:

Elizabeth Preza is the Managing Editor of AlterNet. Follow her on Twitter @lizacisms.