Based on recent data from the Labor Department, Americans continue to leave their jobs at a high rate, extending the Great Resignation in 2022.
The ‘quit rate,’ according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), was little changed at 4.3 million in February, down from December's revised sum of 4.4 million quits. That was the eighth straight month that job quits exceeded 4 million.
What has become known as The Great Resignation is being fueled by young adults. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that young adults under 30 (37%) are far more likely than older adults 30 to 49 (17%), 50 to 64 (9%) and 65 and older (5%), to have voluntarily left their job last year. Another survey by Microsoft found that 52% of Gen Z and millennial workers said they were likely to consider leaving their jobs this year. That’s up 3% from last year.
The research suggests that many of these young adults are not quitting to be idle. And Tim Rowley can vouch for that. Rowley, the chief technology officer and COO of PeopleCaddie, a digital talent marketplace that matches employers with professional contractors, said they are seeing a wave of young professionals entering the gig economy.
Rowley noted that historically, the contractor pool leaned more toward the semi-retiree who have had a ton of experience and just looking to dial back into their career or trying to find ways to supplement their income. That, he said, has eased dramatically in the past five years. “Now, you look at the demographics of the contingent of the labor pool and the largest cohort are the millennials and the fastest growing cohort are the GenZers,” he said.
These young adults have sought a different type of career where they have a lot more flexibility and control, Rowley said. He said the pandemic forced many of them to work remotely or in a hybrid scenario over the last couple of years and they got a taste of what that flexibility was like, and they have come to enjoy it and don’t want to give it up.
“Instead of looking to the elder and model what they do, they are charting their own course and they are rapidly hopping to the gig economy,” Rowley said.
He said like many other companies, the pandemic slowed growth at PeopleCaddie, but there was significant acceleration one year into the crisis. “A lot of people who had opted out of the traditional labor pool were coming in, the contract labor pool,” he said, noting that employers, too, were seeking contract help given the uncertainties of the pandemic.
In 2020, Rowley said PeopleCaddie's business grew by 70% and more than doubled to 150% in 2021. That growth, he noted, also is reflective of the growth in their talent pool. “The last couple of years we have been supply constraint more than demand constraint and the growth is in lockstep with the supply of contractors that we have been able to attract,” he said.
The Pew survey found that workers also walked away from their jobs because of low pay (63%), no opportunities for advancement (63%) and feeling disrespected at work (57%). Others left due to childcare issues (49%), lack of flexibility (45%) and not having good benefits such as health insurance and paid time off (43%).
Such grievances are usually a non-issue for contract workers who are not beholden to an employer. Assignments, Rowley explained, usually lasts three to six months based on the employer’s needs. And within that time, a contractor could make as much as they would in a year at a permanent job. “It’s that premium pay and the flexibility,” he said.