Labor hoarding, quiet quitting, the great resignation. We continue to put labels on trends in the job market—but do we really know what long-term impact this is having on business, and do we recognize what steps we need to take next to have a better workforce?
To start, let’s define a few of these.
Great resignation: Some call it the great resignation; others call it the great reshuffle; I like to say the great job hop. All in all, this was the great exodus of employees from their employment obligations. Picking up speed in the spring of 2021, the great resignation was higher than usual numbers of employees voluntarily leaving their job.
A Pew Research study uncovers the top reasons why U.S. workers left their job in 2021, which include: pay was too low, no opportunities for advancement, felt disrespected at work, because of child care issues, not enough flexibility to choose when to put in hours, and because benefits weren’t good, among other reasons.
This trend stayed steady for a while too. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey suggests roughly 50.5 million people quit their jobs in 2022, which is higher than the 47.8 million in 2021. This trend has slowed in 2023, but what has since occurred is a number of mass layoffs in tech, banking, commercial real estate, and other industries.
Quiet quitting: For those who decided not to leave their jobs, another phenomenon is being talked about more often. Quiet quitting is a newer phrase, but the concept of worker disengagement isn’t all that novel. While there are different definitions based on who you ask, quiet quitting is the phrase for when an employee reduces the amount of effort one devotes to a job to the bare minimum. These workers haven’t left—but rather have limited their tasks to those strictly within their job description.
Labor hoarding: Like quiet quitting, there are different definitions for labor hoarding depending on who you ask. At its core, labor hoarding is the practice of keeping employees within companies by any means necessary. This includes not firing when a company typically might and not laying off to cut overhead. It is most common in industries that are facing a labor shortage.
Skynova surveyed 1,010 business owners to find out why they are engaging in labor hoarding, what retention strategies they use, and what jobs have the greatest longevity. Let’s unpack what it found.
Roughly nine in 10 small businesses are actively labor hoarding and plan to continue to do so in 2023. The top reasons include confidence in their team, layoffs being bad for employee morale, and reducing hiring expenses.
It is an interesting labor market we live in these days. Some people are quitting or being laid off in mass, while others are holding on to jobs, but disengaging. Now, we see companies are also holding on to employees, even though they may not be up to the task, simply because the labor market is a tricky one.
While it is great to recognize all these trends, the real problem is that we need to have workers who have the skills to get the job done. We need to take steps today to upskill, reskill, educate, and motivate. We need to train and develop workers—not in years, but now. It’s not just college education. It’s about motivation, incentivizing, vision, and beginning with the end in mind, as Stephen Covey has taught us. We need to create habits that create better learners and workers. We all need to indulge in paradigm shifts in thinking. These shifts will certainly prove to be disruptive if truly effective. And as such, will not move us all in the same direction.
If we look at some of this research, we can uncover what needs to happen next. We need to clearly define the job and list the areas of responsibility and procedures to plainly communicate what the job is. We need competitive pay and benefits, with clear opportunities for advancement. Once in the office, respect, flexibility, and a focus on DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion) go a long way.
Certainly, we also can’t forget about the role of technology in all of this. Today’s younger, tech savvy individuals are very friend centered. They want community and opportunities that are not only lucrative, but more fulfilling, and that undoubtedly is going to include advanced technology. We need to accept the way they work and understand how to identify with their moods, feelings, attitudes, and behavior, as if we were looking in a two-way mirror.
We need to respect them for how they want to work just like we respect our own work methods. Sometimes, if we take a step back to better see what we aren’t seeing, we see everything so much clearer. There is no right or wrong here. Sometimes the best way to understand young people is just to identify with what they want: money, work-driven, possession centered, esteem centered, vacations, identity centered; you get the idea. Only time will tell if you are effective as an architect of change for the paradigm shift that will impact the next great workforce.
Want to tweet about this article? Use hashtags #IoT #sustainability #AI #5G #cloud #edge #futureofwork #digitaltransformation #green #ecosystem #environmental #circularworld #laborhoarding #quietquit #greatresignation