By Alice Seeley
The Labor Department (DOL) reported that 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in March. This number increased from 4.4 million in February and beat the previous record reached in November 2021.
The data from DOL revealed that many Americans quit their jobs in the hope of better salaries, working conditions, and more flexible work hours. ZipRecruiter’s Chief Economist, Julia Pollak, said the one major reason for the high number of quits is because more Americans are becoming used to working from home and want to continue working from home.
“As employers require workers to return to offices, quits are ticking upwards. A major reason for quitting is to find a remote opportunity,” Pollak stated.
A recent study from Pew Research Center supported Pollak’s belief. This study showed that 61% of people who have a workplace outside of their home choose not to go into the office, and 76% stated they prefer to work from home all or most of the time.
The number of open job positions also rose in March, increasing to 11.5 million. This means that there were 1.9 job openings for every unemployed worker. This is the highest number of job openings seen in the U.S. since December 2000.
Ron Hetrick, the vice president of staffing strategy and a senior labor economist at Emsi Burning Glass, was not shocked at March’s data.
“We knew March was going to be awful news for employers, and man, it did not disappoint. Things will get better, but Q1 22 will go down as the pit of despair for employers,” Hetrick said.
