What’s Driving Millions Of Americans To Quit Their Jobs? (Rebroadcast)

A record 4 million people quit their jobs in April alone, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

It’s all part of a larger uptick that economists are calling “The Great Resignation.” And the reasons why workers are leaving will likely shape our economy for years to come.

From NPR:

In normal times, people quitting jobs in large numbers signals a healthy economy with plentiful jobs. But these are not normal times. The pandemic led to the worst U.S. recession in history, and millions of people are still out of jobs. Yet employers are now complaining about acute labor shortages.

“We haven’t seen anything quite like the situation we have today,” says Daniel Zhao, a labor economist with the jobs site Glassdoor.

The pandemic has given people all kinds of reasons to change direction. Some people, particularly those who work in low wage jobs at restaurants, are leaving for better pay. Others may have worked in jobs that weren’t a good fit but were waiting out the pandemic before they quit. And some workers are leaving positions because they fear returning to an unsafe workplace.

What’s behind The Great Resignation? And how will it shape a workforce that’s already in flux?

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