the great resignation
A record number of Americans quit their jobs in September
Over 4 million Americans — actually, a record 4.4 million Americans — quit their jobs in September, "as job openings remained near record levels according to federal data," The Washington Post reports.
Resignation numbers were up from August, which saw 4.3 million people put in their two weeks. All in all, it's a "sign of how imbalances in the labor market continue to complicate the economic recovery 20 months into the pandemic," writes the Post. Even after regaining the "vast majority of jobs lost in the earliest months" of the COVID crisis, the country still has over 4 million fewer jobs than in February 2020.
Reasons for the "Great Resignation" are several, reports the Post. In September, peak-Delta variant COVID cases contributed to both loss of access to child care and additional pressures pushing employees to "rethink their daily routine." Other workers were drawn to positions offering better pay and benefits.
The situation's ongoing causes are much the same, economists say. Issues of child care, family care, school unpredictability, and public health all remain a problem for both in-person work and employees considering whether or not to re-enter the workforce, the Post writes. And that's without mentioning the possibility of other factors having "reshaped the traditional dynamics of the labor force after 750,000 people have died." Read more at The Washington Post.