Why aren’t people going back to work?

One mystifying feature, among many, of the COVID-19 pandemic is that now, when employers are cautiously reopening and looking for employees to return to work, employers are experiencing difficulty.

The April, 2021 jobs report of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics www.bls.gov showed the U.S. economy added and filled 266,000 jobs. As commentators have noted, while, during normal times this figure might not be unreasonable, considering the need to make up the huge numbers of jobs lost, it is concerning. It is important to note that the fact that many employees have not returned to work to date does not necessarily mean they will never return. Still it is troubling. Several explanations have been given.

Expanded unemployment compensation. Some commentators and some governors have taken the delayed work return as a commentary on expanded unemployment benefits which were originally set at $600 above the state benefit and later at $300 above arguing that employees stay home because they make less at their regular jobs.

With this rationale as a basis, some states have acted on their own to end the extra federal benefit in June instead of September. An aside to this might be that, for states using the federal minimum wage of $7.25 hour employee wages could be too low.

School Closings and Need for Child Care (and Senior Care). Studies reflect that women were disproportionately affected by job losses. While schools were closed, and many still are, women especially and some men needed to stay home to care for their children and also help them participate in distance learning. Care for elderly parents also fell largely on women, although also some on men.

During the most serious periods of the pandemic in particular, families, fearful of acquiring the disease, might not allow strangers in to care for their elderly family members and, in like manner, many caregivers were reluctant to go into a family environment not knowing whether the caregiver might catch the disease from them. The default was at-home care by family.

COVID also affected the numbers of new residents in nursing homes both because of fear the disease could be transmitted and because of concern regarding isolation. New residents typically have needed to undergo a two week quarantine and generally were unable to see outsiders, including their family members throughout. This led to more family members being cared for at home by family who were then exhausted and often unable to work except remotely and sometimes not even then.

Reexamining Options. After having been unemployed or underemployed working remotely, it appears some workers are waiting to examine their options. One trend I have seen especially among professionals is a large number of older and senior employees taking early retirement and of business owners selling their practices to larger or newer organizations. Likewise, this is also a time when employers are examining the number of employees needed, in what capacities and whether at the office, in person or remotely. Some people adapt readily and some not so much.

Finally — Returning to work is not the same. One factor I have not seen reported widely is the vastly different environment to which employees might return. Some examples could make this clear. The customer service representative you used to speak to on a daily basis is no longer there or operates now remotely and does not have access to the same quantity or quality of information. She might have retired or been moved to another position or agency. One federal government agency our office accessed to obtain information needed to complete an application for another agency keeps the phone constantly on busy. The agency could not be accessed at all.

In the past, critical information and documents might have passed by mail. That proved to be less reliable and was often replaced by electronic communication. A certified mail return we expected in November needed to confirm that an individual received notice of a hearing date, was received in January.

Every time, speaking both individually and collectively, we lose someone who was or has been a regular resource we do not just lose that person but also interrupt that connection and lose that institutional memory. We do need people who made life easier and better for everyone. If you can, please come back.

Janet Colliton, Esq. is a Certified Elder Law Attorney and limits her practice to elder law, retirement, life care, special needs, and estate planning and administration with offices at 790 East Market St., Suite. 250, West Chester, PA 19382, 610436-6674, colliton@collitonlaw.com. She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and, with Jeffrey Jones, CSA, co-founder of Life Transition Services, LLC, a service for families with long term care needs. Tune in to Radio Station WCHE 1520 “A Plan Ahead” on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. with Ron Ehman, Real Estate Ron, Broker, Next Home Signature Real Estate.