There’s no labor shortage — we’re long workers
Data from the trenches suggests benefits are not a blocker to going back to work. We surveyed 500 hourly workers about benefits, wages, and what it will take to work again.
Last month’s non-farm payrolls report was forecast to be a blockbuster — but it was a complete flop. Economists were expecting the US economy to add one million jobs in April as more states came out of their pandemic lockdowns, but new jobs were a disappointing 266,000. By now you’ve probably seen the “labor shortage” anecdotes on the news: McDonald’s offering an iPhone to new hires, businesses posting signs proclaiming “no one wants to work anymore,” and Amazon’s $1,000 signing bonus for warehouse associates.
One narrative in the news is that generous pandemic unemployment benefits are preventing people from heading back to work. Armed with complaints from business owners, several states are now ending the federal benefits with the hope more people will take jobs in the hard-hit hospitality and manufacturing sectors. But sitting in the middle of an hourly labor marketplace at WorkWhile, we see things a little differently. To better understand what workers really think about the so-called labor shortage and unemployment benefits, we asked them. What they told us may surprise you.
62% of hourly workers did not file for unemployment benefits
The first interesting finding from our worker attitudes survey is that the majority of our hourly workers — 62% — did not file for unemployment benefits at any point during the pandemic. This was a surprising statistic, so we dug a little deeper. We looked at unemployment behavior by how many hours people are working now. We found that 51% of those not currently working never filed for unemployment, meaning generous benefits can’t be what’s preventing them from taking a job. For those folks who are working full time now, even fewer took advantage of unemployment insurance benefits, with 67% reporting they never filed.
87% of workers said benefits did not stop them from taking a job
Given 62% of the workers we surveyed did not file for unemployment, it’s less surprising that a whopping 87% of workers surveyed said that fear of losing unemployment benefits did not stop them from accepting a job. The idea working folks writ large are signing up for job interviews just to check off a box on the UI form is not backed up by the data. It’s helpful to remember that the US labor force is 164 million people, and in 2020, 57 million filed for unemployment. That implies 65% of all American workers did not file for unemployment — not dissimilar to the numbers we saw in our survey.
The real reasons people aren’t working
So what kept people from working during the pandemic? Fear of COVID, not being able to find a job, and low pay were the top three reasons why workers stayed home. To better understand the impact of known challenges like school closure, we examined the experience for workers with and without kids.
For those without kids, 44% said they could not find a job, while 38% said pay was too low and 35% cited fear of COVID. For parents, Fear of COVID was the top reason, cited by 34% of parents, followed by low pay with 26% citing that reason and 24% saying they could not find a job. “No childcare” was a close fourth, cited by 23% of parents. School closure was cited by 16% of parents as a reason they weren’t able to work.
Losing benefits ranks last
The fear of losing benefits ranked at the absolute bottom of the list for both parents and those without children. Only 3% of parents and 7% of those without kids cited it as a reason for not working.
What about other people, though?
The sample for this survey was biased — we asked users of an app that connects workers to jobs about their labor market opinions. By definition, these are folks who want to work. So we asked them what they thought about other people. Here, an overwhelming 70% said benefits prevented other people from accepting jobs.
In the comments, respondents shared opinions that some people “are enjoying the free money from unemployment and don’t wanna work.” “Just plain laziness” was a reason cited by many, while one person noted, “Unemployment pays better than actually working, or so I’ve heard.”
More than half the US labor force works hourly wage jobs — that’s more than 80 million Americans. They’re not all the same, and they’re not all sitting home collecting benefits. There’s plenty of talent that wants to work, if it’s safe and the pay is right.
Things are looking up in April and May 2021
As we’re emerging from the pandemic in the US, we asked workers how the situation has changed. When asked to reflect on April and May of this year, 40% of respondents said they have more job options, while 35% noted it is still hard to find a job.
Nearly a third of workers have noted that wages have increased, but based on comments, not everyone feels wages have increased enough. “Pay offered is too low! It is a struggle to even afford necessities for oneself, let alone a family.”
How employers can attract the talent they need
Our survey showed the vast majority of workers want to go back to work, but they’re not willing to risk their health for jobs that don’t pay well. To attract the talent they need now, businesses should focus on the top three concerns cited by workers:
1. Promote a safe work environment
“Our safety comes first.” Workers cited fear of COVID as the number one reason they avoided work and those fears remain today. Employers can emphasize the precautions they are taking to keep workers safe.
2. Make pay competitive
“It’s not so much people don’t want to work, they just want to work for a livable income”
— survey respondent
Like any market, the labor market is governed by the laws of supply and demand. Nearly 30% of workers surveyed reported that wages offered have increased, but many say it’s still hard to find a job that pays enough. It should come as no surprise that a higher hourly rate attracts more talent. Be sure what you are offering is what the market is looking for.
3. Go where the workers are
35% of workers surveyed reported that it was still hard to find a job in May, despite the economy opening and more businesses hiring. Leveraging shared workforce platforms like WorkWhile can dramatically accelerate the time to bring staff onboard — in less than 24 hours in most cases. With screened and vetted talent ready to go, businesses can get the quality, reliable help they need quickly and easily.
Our worker attitudes survey reflected some optimism about the post-pandemic economy, and plenty of residual concerns. Fear of COVID, a lack of job options, and low pay were the top reasons why workers were sitting on the sidelines. Things are starting to come back, but perhaps with revised, higher expectations.
“People are realizing that things could be better than what they have been, but they’re still figuring out what’s next.”
WorkWhile is committed to building the best place to work an hourly job, with access to shifts, perks and benefits not available anywhere else. If you’re a business looking for reliable staff, please reach out.
Here’s to coming back better.
