Businesses facing deluge of resignations

People with jobs want new jobs, and why not? They are lured by better positions, big sign-on bonuses, and higher salaries in the very loose job market.

But while companies are trading employees, applicants who aren’t in the job market are still scarce.

April saw a record-breaking 3.99 million people quit, followed by another 3.88 resignations in June and 3.98 million more in July.

Millions more may follow suit, primarily motivated by pay and benefits, according to one survey. The survey, conducted by ResumeBuilder.com, found that 40 percent of tech workers and 24 percent of employees at financial firms have either already quit or are planning to do so by 2022. About 18 percent of healthcare workers and 16 percent of employees in food and hospitality are also plotting their exits.

As one person posted on social media, “My hourly wage is the same but new employees are getting big sign-on bonuses.”

About 73 percent of business owners believe the labor market will tighten as extra unemployment benefits end.

But in the meantime, business is turning to automation, which suggests the open job market will collapse and jobs will be permanently lost. Roughly 75 percent of business owners are either investing in or considering automation, according to a survey by Pollfish. Of the business owners who have already automated, about 55 percent believe the shift will be permanent.

Of those business owners who can offshore their work, 71 percent have already done so.