Teen Workers May Be One Solution to the Great Resignation
by Douglas H. Duerr
2022 Issue 1
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here are the workers? I wish I knew. There are many theories, but none of them are completely satisfactory. While it might be intellectually interesting to know the “why” if you have the luxury of free time, the fact is that the “Great Resignation” has taken almost every employer by surprise; the hit on productivity and customer service is hard to bear. With the continuing difficulty (inability?) of filling job vacancies, many employers have resorted to costly tactics, such as referral and sign-on bonuses, increased pay, enhanced benefits and foosball tables in the breakroom (well, OK, maybe not that, but more and better snacks and drinks are now common).
Despite these efforts, finding, hiring and then retaining employees is harder than ever. This reality is confounding because the so-called labor participation rate (the percentage of individuals of working age who are working or actively looking for work) is still below pre-pandemic rates as of January and well below the average since 2000. While the “why” behind the shortage of workers may be unclear, the impact is unavoidable. So what to do when individuals are not looking to work even when offered good pay and
