An economic ennui has settled in among workers after the experiences of the last few years, said Julia Pollak, chief economist with ZipRecruiter, and that ennui is showing up in the numbers.
Nearly 20 million people were laid off in a matter of weeks as the pandemic took hold, regardless of whether they had strong work ethics, good performance or loyalty to a company. Then the economic winds shifted just months later, and companies were suddenly desperate to hire. Firings and layoffs reached historic lows. Existing employees were often worked to the point of burnout, newbies with less experience were brought on at a higher wage and employers overlooked things that could have cost workers their jobs in the past.
Workers came away from all of this feeling like the connection between working hard and being rewarded was broken, Pollak said.
“That’s really discouraging to top performers,” she added.
The result: This year, productivity — the measure of how much stuff companies produce for each hour we work — has seen the biggest drop on record.
Productivity is down 4.1% on an annualized basis, the biggest decline since the government started keeping track of the number back in 1948. Since then, U.S. productivity had been on a steady upward slope. Until now.
Job market swings over the past few years have dampened the motivation of many workers and led to a decline in productivity. Economists say that could have a profound effect on the country's well-being.https://t.co/zqIWkB9gv0
— NPR (@NPR) October 8, 2022