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Strong economy a collaboration

In November, a record 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs, according to a report from The Associated Press. The Labor Department also reported employers posting 10.6 million job openings during the same month, which was down from 11.1 million in October but still a historic high. Also in November, employers hired 6.7 million people, which was up from 6.5 million in October.

All of this shows the job market is rebounding after the terrible crash in 2020, when 22 million jobs were cut in March and April 2020, and unemployment rose to 14.8 percent. While employers have added 18.5 million jobs since then, we are still down 3.9 million jobs from where we were before the pandemic.

Though a rearrangement of the workforce might be uncomfortable for some, it could be a very good thing.

“Lots of quits means stronger worker bargaining power which will likely feed into strong wage gains,” said Nick Bunker, research director at the Indeed Hiring Lab, according to the AP.

No matter how you look at the numbers, it seems there are many jobs going unfilled. And with record numbers quitting their jobs — presumably for other positions or perhaps going back to school to train for careers — employers and businesses must take a hard look at how they compete in this changing jobs landscape.

We need a strong workforce to help bring the economy back to where it was before the pandemic. We aren’t out of the woods yet — employers and employees will have to continue to do their parts for that to happen.

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