Understanding the Labor Pool

Writing for Forbes, Emmy Lucas posted an article this week titled, “Five Types of Talent Behind the Great Resignation,” in which she details some of the personality types of people who’ve left their jobs in recent years. While many market watchers have attributed the Great Resignation to factors like early retirement or large numbers of people who have chosen to remain unemployed in the last two years (spurred by the COVID–19 pandemic), Lucas takes the time to consider the different idiosyncrasies behind this phenomenon that go beyond these factors.

Here are the five personas that Lucas identifies:

1. Traditionalists, who are “less likely to quit without a job to go to and more likely to stay if they get enough money”;
2. Do-it-yourselfers, who are fueling the gig economy as they seek “flexibility and a friendly work environment”—which now, Lucas confirms, accounts for the majority of the unemployed labor pool;
3. Caregivers, who are people who stay at home (usually to care for family) and need “roles with flexibility that allow them to still continue their caregiving”;
4. Idealists, who demand “strong organization culture and clear career advancement trajectories” and likely seek work they believe in; and
5. Relaxers, who are usually retirees who would only return to “work if the job is right”, desiring a mix of “meaningful work and balance.”

What Lucas’s article tells us is that many businesses are still trying to hire like most of the job applicants fall into the traditionalists category, so their sales pitches center around compensation, benefits, etc. That’s not to say that those factors aren’t important—they are—but you’ll notice that three of the other four are prioritizing flexibility, and two of them are concerned with deriving meaning from their work.

To adapt, we have to accept that this trend isn’t going away. Lucas tells us that there is “record-low U.S. unemployment and 11.3 million open jobs” out there. “High demand has enabled more than half of those who quit to not only move into new jobs but also move into new industries. Only 6% made what could be considered a lateral move within their industry.” That’s extraordinary when you think about it: unlike the traditional ebbs and flows of employee turnover, which often results in employees seeking out similar jobs at other companies (whether for more money or a better work environment), we’re seeing people completely leave their fields altogether. To say the labor pool is in flux would be an understatement.

Further compounding this great reshuffle, we’re seeing that many employees are opting to switch to part-time. Less than a third have returned to “traditional full-time employment.” This makes sense given the high numbers of job-seekers who prioritize flexibility. They want the extra time to pursue their own interests. And there’s no reason to think this is going to change anytime soon, even if rising costs of living may blunt some of this.

To attract new employees (and to keep the ones you have), your business needs a strategy that incorporates a positive work environment and a strong company culture, and that also means allowing for flexibility. That’s a tall order for some industries, as they need to cover many shifts. Perhaps the best solution is to try to mix your staff with the different personality types detailed above, with the less demanding (but likely higher paid and full-time) employees taking the less attractive shifts, while those who will only commit to flexible part-time filling out the rest.

This may mean that many businesses will need to employ larger numbers of people than they’re used to having. A larger staff becomes a bigger challenge for managers, but if the choice is between being understaffed or having a lot of new faces who are only there occasionally, the latter is often the more attractive option. Perhaps the largest challenge will be maintaining a high level of training and service quality given the larger roster, but that’s why mystery-shopping services remain so valuable.

Whether you employ 5, 50, or 500, or some number in between, you have to keep standards high for everyone. Problems like understaffing won’t even matter if can’t garner customer loyalty, and to get that, you need a high-quality customer experience and products that your patrons love. That’s where we come in.

The Brandt Group offers world-class mystery shopping (in-person, over-the-phone, or through the web), and we’re also your resource for leadership training so that you can create the kind of company culture that keeps everyone happy. None of us can afford to sit on hour hands and wait for this problem to go away. So, drop us a line, and let’s get started on meeting the challenge of the Great Resignation head-on.