A great paradox is taking place in the world of work. While millions of workers around the world try to keep their jobs in order to face the economic crisis derived from the Covid-19 pandemic, in the United States voluntary resignations register historical figures. In October the unemployed were more than 4.2 million people (average abandonment rate of 3%) in an employed population of 154 million, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This phenomenon is not limited exclusively to a single month as 20 million people have left their jobs since the beginning of spring and it begins to have serious repercussions on the economy as a whole.
Although it affects all sectors, a significant asymmetry is observed. Hotels and restaurants, retail trade, mass distribution of products and personal assistance services account for half of all voluntary redundancies. Their churn rates are double the average (3%). All of them are very precarious sectors in terms of social protection, unionization, salaries and others with a very high level of demand. For more than a decade the legal minimum hourly wage ($ 7.25) has not been updated. That is why it is not surprising that 11.5% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2020. And that the working poor are forced to work two or three jobs in order to survive.
To all this, we must add that a third of the population does not take vacations and those who can take them have the right to a maximum period of 15 days, there is no maternity leave and there is no universal public health coverage. Although it is true that companies are obliged to arrange private health in their contracts with employees. Furthermore, the level of unionization is very low because there is no desire to defend professions with low valued status. This affects a large part of the working population, since only a fifth of jobs require a university degree.
With the available data, there is still no conclusive analysis to help understand why people are voluntarily leaving their job. Their motivations are not easy to understand. But it is clear that the reasons for quitting their jobs are very diverse. A phenomenon of this nature cannot be explained by the behavior of a single variable. Several theories try to explain what happened. Among all of them, the opinion of the American academic Anthony Klotz stands out, who has called this phenomenon the Great resignation. This organizational psychologist affirms that the explanation of what is happening is due to pandemic epiphanies (being aware that, suddenly, we need a change). Every major change in our life is born out of conviction or compulsion. But only a few change out of conviction. Most of us do it out of compulsion, out of crisis, because there is no other remedy.
The keys to understanding this process must also be sought in other types of factors that have been able to influence the phenomenon of the great resignation, such as the lack of good working conditions, an insufficient public social safety net and job exhaustion.
Unfortunately a pandemic has had to come to highlight the value of work. Like all crises, Covid-19 has exposed the culture of the current model of the world of work. We must consider that what makes the company more competitive is having workers in good condition, well paid and satisfied.
In a context of accelerated changes, the pandemic has turned everything upside down. For many people it is an opportunity to manage their priorities in a different way. The motto nothing in the long term is changing the very meaning of work. Attachment is eroding as excess work flexibility creates uncertainty and dissolves bonds of trust and commitment. It is difficult to design long-term goals in an economy that has a short-term view. People miss the lack of more stable and lasting human relationships. How to maintain loyalty and reciprocal commitment in institutions that are in continuous reorganization?
At this point, we may be wondering if this phenomenon can reach other countries. In principle, the comparison between the US and any other country is complicated. In Spain too, the scenario is very different. Specifically, if we analyze the unemployment data in the US, their situation is practically full employment (4.2% unemployment rate), which allows them to leave a job and find another, with some fluency, without major complications (skip with a network), while in Spain the unemployment rate (14.5%) is much higher (jumping without a network).
Therefore, in the US, a country with almost full employment, any decrease in the supply of workers, as is the case today, produces a serious mismatch between supply and demand for labor. There are 11 million unsatisfied job offers, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Therefore, in times of uncertainty such as the current ones, social preferences are promoted as one of the first priorities. Thus, the right to health, education, and free and universal public services open a new scenario for a demand for public services that allow social cohesion.
Vicente Castelló is Professor Jaume I. University Member of the Interuniversity Institute of Local Development
– .
