Work-from-home spurs blue-collar career shifts
The pandemic shift to working at home has spurred blue-collar Americans — who’ve largely been left out of that trend — to seek a career change.
A new study by the Oliver Wyman Forum found that the desire for more work flexibility was a key motivation for bluecollar employees to make the transition. It also said that almost four out of five who tried were successful.
“Despite being front and center during the spread of COVID-19, the well-being of blue-collar workers took a back seat,” the report said. “Most clocked hours in person — putting themselves and their loved ones at risk — while they watched their whitecollar counterparts migrate to comfortable and safe remote setups, with their jobs and pay protected.”
To be sure, any such moves are on a small scale when measured against the overall labor force. Still, they can add to the difficulties facing U.S. businesses as they try to fill record numbers of vacant jobs — more than 10 million as of November — in a rebounding economy.
Federal Reserve surveys of manufacturing firms continue to highlight the shortfall. “Applicants are trickling in,” one firm told the Kansas City Fed. “Not fast enough to satisfy current demand.”
Economists point to lagging pay, COVID sickness, a lack of child-care facilities and early retirements among the reasons for the squeeze. Career rethinks may be another one.
Research by Brad Hershbein, an economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, shows that there was a bigger migration last year — compared with 2019 — from blue-collar jobs in construction or mining to more office-based fields. Using U.S. Census Bureau data for the three months through November, he calculates that between 6.5% and 8.4% of blue-collar workers from construction, transportation and production who changed their jobs moved to white-collar professions.
The Oliver Wyman Forum study found that the shift from blue- to white-collar work has been most pronounced in IT industries, including cyber security, and sales. Respondents to the group’s survey said they quit because they wanted more flexible hours and better benefits.
The pandemic has boosted demands for a better work environment, says Jerry Lee, cofounder of Wonsulting, which helps job-seekers from less advantaged backgrounds find work.