News SpotlightGen Z students sell out. In today’s uncertain economy, many students at elite colleges care more about earning potential than exploration, studying Econ and Comp Sci to ensure them lucrative jobs in tech and finance (The New York Times). Soft skills are needed in the AI boom. While AI may put many jobs at risk in the future of work, economists predict that new opportunities — and higher wages — might be coming for those whose work prioritizes people skills (The Financial Times). On-site childcare is on the rise. With no end in sight for the childcare crisis, employers increasingly offer on-site care to workers, but experts caution against overly relying on business to fill the void (AP News). Stat of the WeekIn a new study that examined job postings over the last year, wages for AI-related roles — including programmers, lawyers, and accountants — were found to be 25% higher on average in the U.S. than for comparable jobs that did not require AI skills. These skills are increasingly in demand for today’s workforce, and more and more companies are seeking workers proficient in the use of AI. Over the past decade, the number of jobs requiring AI skills grew 3.5 times faster than the total of all jobs across all countries studied — signaling that AI is well on its way to shaping the future of work. Deep Dive ArticleHow Companies Can Minimize Turnover and Invest in Low-Wage WorkersIs the “Great Resignation” behind us? Many signs point to yes. U.S. quit rates — the measure of people voluntarily leaving their jobs — have been declining back to pre-pandemic levels, from a high of 3% to 2.1%. And earlier this year, the number of U.S. job openings dipped to 8.5 million, the fewest we’ve seen in 3 years. Today’s tight labor market seems to be cooling, with more workers staying put in their current jobs. Still, it’s more complicated than these numbers suggest. Quiet quitting and “resenteeism” remain growing trends among today’s workers. Younger workers are more likely to leave their jobs than their older counterparts, with Millennials known as the “job-hopping generation.” Quit rates also vary considerably from industry to industry, and for certain sectors they remain quite high. These tend to be lower-paying industries, like food service and hospitality with a current quit rate of 4.3%, while higher-paying sectors like finance boast quit rates of 1.3%. Leisure and hospitality workers — many of whom are women and people of color — were especially hard hit during the pandemic, with the sector losing half its workforce in just 2 months. The industry remains unstable, caught in a hiring churn with too many open jobs and not enough workers. A key driver of this churn is a pattern of underinvestment in the hourly and low-wage workforce. Many of these workers not only struggle to make ends meet but also tend to have minimal access to skills training or career pathways that allow them to progress and grow within their companies. As a result, companies struggle with high turnover and absenteeism, along with declining morale, productivity, and customer goodwill — all of which lead to less revenue in the long run, especially in today’s uncertain economy. A new report from isolved, which takes a sector-specific lens to explore the current state of employee turnover, finds that the total average turnover is 17.12%. However, like quit rates, turnover varies widely by industry — from just 10.4% in the legal industry to 39.7% in hospitality and 25.6% in food services. Overall, the report confirms that the industries struggling most with retention are also those with the lowest average salaries — $35,512 for hospitality and $36,301 for food services, which are well below the average salary of $57,400 across industries. For low-wage earners, there can be little justification for staying in one job when another pays even a little bit more, particularly when their companies are not investing in their growth and well-being with benefits like career pathing, quality health benefits, and adequate paid time off. Of course, solving high turnover will look different for different industries. However, with low-wage earners leaving their jobs at much higher rates, there are some key investments employers across sectors can make to improve retention. This will not only help workers build better lives but also foster better business outcomes. Where should employers begin? Here are 5 investments employers can make to keep their workers in the long term: 4 Ways Companies Can Minimize Turnover Among Low-Wage and Hourly Workers
A living wage should lead the way.Each of the above steps is essential to helping reduce turnover for all employees, especially low-wage earners. Above all, a fair living wage is the most urgent investment that employers can make for their low-wage and hourly employees. Unless they can make ends meet and take care of their families, employees will move on in search of higher wages, fueling the churn characteristic of low-wage jobs. No matter the industry, company, or job, a living wage must come first. For leaders in different sectors, it’s important to benchmark wages, along with other workplace practices, against industry averages and top-performing peers. Dig into isolved’s report for more industry-specific insights — from Retail to Hospitality to Healthcare, and more — on the current turnover challenges companies face, and best industry-specific retention practices to consider. Thanks for reading — be sure to join the conversation on LinkedIn and let me know your thoughts on this topic. |
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News Spotlight Companies are scrapping internships. Companies like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Tesla hired fewer interns this summer to cut costs, increase efficiency, and in anticipation of an economic slowdown (Financial Times). Women are limited by a lack of childcare support. Women who have children under 5 years old’s workforce participation gains have plateaued since September due to a lack of available and affordable childcare options (New York Times). Employee burnout has reached a...
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