Employees quit for better pay, work-life balance
Demand for workers high after 2020 economic shifts
After three years working as a regional director for a STEM workforce development company, John Ray wanted to do something different with his more than a decade of experience in education. h While working from his Detroit home during the pandemic, Ray decided to leave his job and start his own consulting business. h “I always taught students to grasp what they wanted. To go after their dreams, to take full advantage of their lives,” he said. “With COVID really being in this reflection period, I have been living out a lot of those items myself. I still had a lot of dreams and desires that I wanted to get into ... I wanted to make sure I was making the most of my time, my life.”
Ray is among the millions in the United States quitting their jobs in search of higher pay, more flexibility or a fresh start that allows them to pursue different professional goals. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 3.9 million voluntary separations in June.
Women with children younger than 18 are having a slower return to the workforce, said Susan Corbin, acting director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Older Americans nearing retirement are also thinking about whether they want to return to work, she said.
Employment levels are low in the hospitality and the restaurant industries with former employees seeking work elsewhere, Corbin said.
“There’s high demand for workers now. Those people who were traditionally in lower-paying jobs have more opportunities in higher-paying jobs. Those making $12 an hour previously can find opportunities making $15 to $18 an hour.”
Susan Corbin, acting director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity
“There’s high demand for workers now,” she said. “Those people who were traditionally in lower-paying jobs have more opportunities in higher-paying jobs. Those making $12 an hour previously can find opportunities making $15 to $18 an hour.”
In this tight labor market, sign-on bonuses are the norm, with employers competing for a smaller applicant pool, said Andrew Hunter, co-creator of global job search engine Adzuna.
“The easy way to attract talent back into the job market is with money, but that’s not the be-all and end-all,” he said. “We’re definitely seeing examples of pay being increased, but I think it’s important that employers balance that with understanding the needs of the job-seeker in 2021 and the perks and all of that that come with pay.”
Amazon is offering a $1,000 sign-up bonus for new hires at its newest fulfillment centers, said Jessica Pawl, an Amazon spokesperson. There’s an extra $100 bonus for workers who report for their first day already vaccinated for COVID-19, she said.
The online retailer, which is not mandating vaccinations, also offers full-time, part-time and flex-time schedules.
The company starts pay at $15 an hour and provides other benefits, including healthcare and exclusive access to neighborhood health centers. It also pre-pays up to 95% of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields for employees who have been with the company at least a year.
At Churchill’s Food & Spirits in downtown Flint, Mich., executive chef Tyler Hardisty said it’s been a struggle to hire workers.
Hardisty said the few people applying for positions either don’t show up for interviews or, once hired, for work. The restaurant needs three cooks, eight servers and one or two bartenders.
He said things may change when Michigan stops paying $300 a week in supplemental unemployment benefits next month.
“We’re hoping that when that drops off, there’s going to be an influx of people looking for jobs,” he said.“I’m a certified executive chef through the (American Culinary Federation), and we’re doing a lot of high-end cocktails and mixology-type things that a lot of places aren’t doing. We try to sell ourselves as being a good place to come to get some knowledge and experience.”
In the restaurant industry, Churchill’s isn’t alone in facing staffing challenges. Laura Lawson, chief people officer for United Wholesale Mortgage, has noticed a lot of the Pontiac, Mich., company’s new employees coming from restaurants and other hospitality businesses.
“I think the top is the restaurant industry,” Lawson said. “The stories are very unique, depending on where people come from.”
UWM hired 4,700 people from March through December 2020 and has about 9,000 employees.
Of the newer hires, about 60% resigned from other employers, while 40% came after being laid off, Lawson said.
The company recently called employees back to the office for in-person work, resulting in a loss of fewer than 200 employees, Lawson said. Overall, UWM has a 90% annual retention rate, she said.
For many workers, the pandemic was a time to reflect on their professional and personal lives.
“I think the primary driving factor behind the great resignation is many Americans are just taking pause for thought,” Hunter said. “There’s been a good opportunity to take a step back and think what are the priorities in my life during this pandemic and how do I want to spend my work-life balance. A lot of people are moving toward flexible working, greater rates of pay or they’re seeking to move (into a new) industry or sector entirely.”
Ray said he began to think about entrepreneurship after losing an aunt and uncle to COVID-19 and numerous friends and family caught the virus.
“COVID kind of put a lot of things into perspective,” he said.
Ray resigned in April this year as regional director of SMASH, a national STEM workforce development company, and started The Kinfolk Group, also known as TKG Consulting. He consults for social impact organizations across the U.S.
Ray said he traveled in his previous position, which he liked, but it was on a tight schedule. As operator of his own business, he can choose when he travels.
“That’s one of the biggest things I love about entrepreneurship is the freedom of my schedule that I have and that flexibility,” he said.
April Andis, of Grand Blanc, Mich., left her job in an auto supplier plant to become an operations specialist for UWM in March of this year. She was looking for a less physically demanding job.
“Standing on my feet for eight hours a day on concrete is kind of what made me change careers,” she said. “It was getting too much for myself as far as my back and my legs.”
Andis said her job at UWM allows is a better worklife balance for her, two grown sons and 14-year-old daughter: “We have our nights together when we get home.”