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Good morning. So it’s technically July 5th but it’s also technically July 4th, in the sense that the markets are closed for the federal holiday and many of you are enjoying the third day of what we hope has been an epic weekend so far.
Instead of a standard Brew newsletter, we’ve decided to dedicate this issue to one particular topic that is probably on your minds: jobs. Read on for info on the "Great Resignation," youth employment prospects, and the surge in hiring bonuses.
See you tomorrow morning with regularly scheduled programming.
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Mad Men
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Prepare your liver for a marathon of farewell happy hours. A bunch of your coworkers are going to quit their jobs over the next few months—if you don’t leave before then.
In what’s been dubbed the “Great Resignation,” 4 million people, or 2.7% of US workers, quit their jobs in April. That’s a record going back to 2000. In all, 41% of workers globally are considering leaving their current employer this year, according to a survey from Microsoft.
Why? Experts have floated several explanations to interpret all the quitting:
- Workers who didn't like their jobs but stuck with it during the pandemic are...not sticking with it anymore.
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Many are retiring early after cashing in on a booming stock market and rising home values.
- People have reevaluated their career paths after an "unprecedented" year which allowed for more reflection.
- In that same vein, people might be looking for a job that allows for better work-life balance.
However, the main reason employees are quitting their jobs en masse, Harvard economics professor Jason Furman argues, is simpler: There are a record number of job openings in the US right now (9.3 million), and in any economy where lots of jobs are available, people leave their existing roles for greener pastures.
Big picture: Has the Great Resignation given workers the upper hand in power struggles with their bosses? Some say absolutely. There’s one story of a woman in Georgia who quit her job after being asked to go into the office for a six-minute meeting. Wages are rising quickly and companies are offering tremendous perks in their desperation to land employees.
Others argue that when this all shakes out—when extra unemployment benefits end in September and the “reopening” reverts to simply “open”—the mad scramble to find employees will fade as workers settle into their new positions.
For now, at least, all the leverage is with the employee. If they’re not pampered, they’re skedaddling.
+ Optional homework: Here’s a collection of articles that discuss the Great Resignation from a variety of perspectives and a fun, related video from the Morning Brew TikTokers.
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Indeed
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Companies need to hire, but to do that they first need to hire the people who do the hiring.
Postings for human resources jobs have jumped to 52.5% above the pre-pandemic baseline, according to research from Indeed. It’s a stunning comeback for HR departments, where postings plunged to 56% below pre-pandemic levels in May 2020.
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Pixabay
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The kids are definitely alright. After the unemployment rate for younger workers shot up to 32% last summer, the jobless rate for teens dropped to 9.6% this May, the lowest it's been since 1953, and stayed pretty steady in June at 9.9%. Employment among America’s youth is recovering at a much quicker rate than for any other demographic.
In a Morning Brew + Generation Lab poll, we asked 500 college students about their work plans for this summer and how they're feeling about it.
About 72% of our new best friends had some kind of employment lined up for this summer, ranging from a part-time internship to a full-time job. Yet racial disparities persist: 81% of white students had jobs compared to 66% of Asian, 63% of Hispanic, and 51% of Black students.
What else we learned
1. That’s a big paycheck you got there. 43% of respondents said they're getting paid more than they were last summer, reflecting rising wages across the labor market. Healthcare (20%) is the most popular field for college student employment this summer, followed by food service (12%).
2. Think twice before signing up for LinkedIn Premium. 38% of students found work through family or friends, compared to 18% through job boards. 46% cited college and personal expenses as their main reason for working this summer, while gaining experience was most important to 28% of respondents.
3. Small staff, open schedule, might lose. Sign of the times: 31% of students said their biggest concern when going to work this summer was understaffing at their employers, beating out worries over health and safety and working remotely.
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Here is the part where we list all of the types of homes we know: Split level, condo, mid-century, colonial, ranch, updated log cabin, Bauhaus(?), Prince Charming’s castle, brownstone.
And here is the part where we list all of the types of homes that SimpliSafe can keep secure: Split level, mid-century, ranch, updated log cabin, Bauhaus(?), Prince Charming’s castle, brownstone.
AND WAY MORE.
SimpliSafe is the whole home security system that gives you 24/7 protection from break-ins, fires, flooding, and more. Whether your home is a refurbished boat or surrounded by a white picket fence, SimpliSafe fits like the perfect, nigh-impenetrable wallpaper.
You’ll get a comprehensive range of sensors and cameras, the Video Doorbell Pro, and even a Smart Lock that’s, well, smart. Plus, it’s all monitored by security pros ready to dispatch first responders to your door when you need them most.
TL;DR: If you got a place to call home, there’s a SimpliSafe system to keep it secure.
Customize your SimpliSafe system here.
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Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images
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If you’re searching for the epicenter of the labor crunch in the US, look no further than the restaurant industry. Restaurants are producing more “We’re Hiring” signs than burgers—but hosts, line cooks, and waiters aren't rushing back to the kitchen.
Surveying the damage: Around 8.2 million people who worked in the leisure and hospitality industries were laid off between February and April last year when the pandemic first hit. Now, business owners are desperate to fill 1.6 million job openings. One out of every 10 jobs in the sector was unfilled in the spring.
Where did they go? Many owners say extra unemployment benefits have dissuaded employees from returning. But many former restaurant workers also found more stable jobs in other industries and didn’t look back.
- After surveying over 2,800 food service workers, UC Berkeley Food Labor Research Center said the top three reasons that they’d leave their jobs are low wages and tips, lingering Covid-19 fears, and concerns of hostility from customers.
Big picture: The biggest problem facing the restaurant sector predates the pandemic—for many employees it simply wasn’t a fulfilling, safe, or lucrative place to work. "The restaurant business, inherently and pre-Covid, was a toxic workplace," North Carolina restaurant owner Patrick Whalen told CNN.
Looking ahead...as they compete with one another for workers, restaurants must address those larger issues (higher pay, more welcoming culture) to enjoy a full recovery from the pandemic. It looks like it's beginning to work: Bars and restaurants accounted for nearly 190,000 out of the 850,000 total job gains in June.
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Okay, maybe hiring managers aren’t going quite that ham, but to hire the best talent from the US’ limited labor pool companies are getting sample-sale-level competitive.
Postings featuring hiring incentives have more than doubled on the job search platform Indeed compared to last year. And workers have caught on: Searches for jobs that advertise bonuses have jumped 134% since January.
A few examples:
- Nine months after laying off ~32,000 employees, Disney is offering $1,000 bonuses to recruit some workers for its Florida theme parks.
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Meat processor JBS will pay for a college degree for its workers and one of their children.
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One Jersey Mike’s Subs in Santa Cruz, CA, is offering a $10,000 incentive for an assistant manager and $5,000 for a shift leader.
Bottom line: Employers prefer using cash incentives because they’re effective at catching job seekers’ attention as they scroll through listings, according to Indeed. Plus, a bonus is a one-time commitment rather than an ongoing cost—such as a salary bump or additional PTO.
Still, while incentives have become more popular they're only advertised in 4.2% of total job postings on Indeed.
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Interactive musical journeys: Learn more about 1) your geographic music bubble and 2) what it’s like to hear yourself represented with lyrics for the first time.
For your next vacation: A flight attendant teaches you how to properly pack a suitcase.
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It's one of our favorite games: Which popular food product is made up of the following ingredients?
Water, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil, skim milk, contains less than 2% of light cream, sodium caseinate, natural and artificial flavor, xanthan and guar gums, modified food starch, polysorbate 60, sorbitan monostearate, sodium polyphosphate, beta cartone (color).
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✤ A Note From Hendrick's
PLEASE DRINK THE UNUSUAL RESPONSIBLY. HENDRICK'S GIN 44% ALC/VOL. ©2021 BOTTLED AND IMPORTED BY WILLIAM GRANT & SONS. NEW YORK, NY.
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