Employers around the country—from Domino’s Pizza to FedEx Corp.—have reported that hiring challenges caused by the ongoing pandemic have suppressed growth and, in many cases, led to significant decreases in their bottom lines.
A significant cause of this has been absence due to illness. Almost 9 million people—approximately 6% of workers on payroll in the United States—missed work in the first ten days of January because of the spike in the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. Though this is a slight improvement from the 14 million people absent from work in late December, it is still an alarming statistic. Even more troubling is that 1.6 million individuals have reportedly dropped out of the workforce due to long COVID—which can lead to symptoms like fatigue, memory loss, and brain fog for months on end.
The knock-on effects of such absences can be felt around the country. Millions of individuals have quit their jobs in search of better pay or opportunities in a labor market saturated with openings. In fact, hiring challenges were so great that in December, McDonald’s Corp. cut its hours back by 10% across the board. And in an attempt to onboard over 100,000 associates in anticipation of its bustling spring season, Home Depot has reported adopting an ‘accelerated hiring process.’
Yes, the effects of current hiring challenges have significantly affected the growth of large businesses, led to product shortages, and in turn led to consumer frustration and dissatisfaction. But, one of the most significant impacts of the current labor market has been on the working individuals themselves; many of whom have reported that though finding work may be easier, open positions are too often part-time, with low pay, and uncertain shifts—regularly changed at the last minute.
Perhaps even more troubling, is the fact that government aid packages—like the COVID-19 stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits—though few and far between before, have completely ceased. To make matters worse, since most available positions on the labor market are part-time, they offer no health care or retirement benefits. Although many workers received wage hikes last year, these raises still do not keep pace with the aggressive inflation facing the American economy. This is all to say, the situation continues to worsen for U.S. workers as the pandemic stretches on, creating an incredibly dire situation for working-class Americans. Where are they to turn for the assistance they so desperately need and deserve?
The media portrayal of employee shortages has overwhelmingly been one of a working-class who—after receiving minimal assistance in the form of stimulus checks—refuses to work. This could not be further from the truth. People want to work, but they need higher pay, better benefits, and more flexibility.
The responsibility falls squarely on employers, not working individuals, to ensure that they are fully staffed. In order to do so, in the current economy—with a plethora of job openings and serious inflation—employers are going to have to compete to fill their payrolls. We have seen some positive outcomes on this front: Amazon now covers front-line workers’ full tuition and other corporations are following suit. But, this doesn’t go far enough. Working individuals should have their work from home expenses covered, sick leave packages should be enhanced, student loan benefits should be provided, and so on.
That being said, government inaction on this issue has been bewildering. With eviction moratoriums coming to an end, many individuals making a good faith effort to engage in the labor market are losing access to their homes. Beyond this, the appallingly low federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 since 2009 and over 38 million Americans (approx. 10%) still owe money on student loans. With this in mind, I believe it’s time for the federal government to raise its minimum wage to $15, pass student loan forgiveness, provide extensive job training programs, and mandate that health care benefits be provided for part-time workers.