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While you’ve been running errands, shopping, or trying to eat out at a restaurant, you’ve probably seen signs that say something along the lines of, “We are short staffed. Please be patient with the staff that showed up. No one wants to work anymore.” Variations include complaints about government handouts or laziness – but the reality is this: Employers are unable to find people who want to take their undesirable jobs, and as is often the case, they're eager to blame anyone but themselves for the shortage.
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The truth is, businesses are understaffed because workers are fed up with the low wages and lousy work conditions these employers are offering. Right now, union workers across the country are going on strike to demand better wages, more humane schedules, and more leadership opportunities. White collar workers are also leaving their good-paying jobs in droves. It’s a national reckoning that economists have called the Great Resignation.
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Because there are so many open positions in the job market right now, wages are climbing higher than at any point in the last two decades – and workers actually have the upper hand over employers.
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So, you may be asking yourself, why are so many positions still open? There are several factors at play:
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- During the pandemic, women left the workforce at a rate four times higher than men. That’s because women are more likely to be the primary child care provider in American homes. With the child care sector in shambles, they haven’t reentered the workforce.
- Since Donald Trump took office, immigration dropped by half. That amounts to two million fewer immigrants than were originally projected to arrive by 2020 – which means two million fewer workers to fill jobs.
- More than 750,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. The sad reality is that many working-age Americans have passed away since March 2020, and others are too afraid to go back to work and contract the virus.
- And finally, employers just aren’t paying up. If they wanted to end the Great Resignation tomorrow, large corporations could cut some of those multi-million dollar bonus checks for CEOs and invest in better salaries, working conditions, and benefits for their employees.
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So, the Great Resignation is a sign that our work culture is finally changing, and that – one day – workers may finally gain the living wages they deserve. But trickle-downers are using this moment to try to claim that government handouts make people lazy to keep all of the money at the top of the economic ladder. That’s why we created a quiz that sets the record straight by testing your knowledge of the Great Resignation.
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If you’re up to the challenge, click here to find out how much you know about our economy – and bust even more trickle-down myths.
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Thank you,
Paul, Civic Action
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