Nobody Wants to Work Anymore

“I want 20 years of experience and a PHD. This job will require 80 hours per week. We will pay $10 per hour and no benefits as this is an entry level position.” This is how I think a lot of discussions begin when management considers positing a job opening. At least, that’s the impression I get any time I see a job posting or hear friends and family speak about their job search. So then why is there such a disconnect in the workforce?

Employees can’t find a job they qualify for, and employers are shouting “nobody wants to work anymore”. Ghosting is becoming more prevalent among employees and gig work is becoming more appealing with each passing day for some. Employers are trying to compete with one another on wages, but there is an apparent ignorance of their competition against the gig economy and passive income which today’s average citizen has greater access to than ever. Some find themselves asking “why would I wake up at 7 am, spend time commuting just to be trapped at a job for 8 plus hours, and be treated poorly for $10–15 an hour when I could just do my own thing with Task Rabbit, Uber, Gigwalk, Upwork, Fiverr, Udemy, Youtube, or a thousand other projects and get to do it on my own time?”

The answer is becoming more apparent. People don’t want to work for less than they are worth. In America we have a capitalist society and for a long time it has worked in favor of the employer with the exception of a few unions who have occasionally tipped the scale here and there. As a whole its always been the employer that has the upper hand.

You do what the employer says when they say and for the amount they say, or you get out. That’s fair, you wouldn’t hire a plumber to fix your pipes and not expect to be able to find someone else if they weren’t performing to your standards. However, on such a large scale the fairness over time has grown lacking. The productivity of the average worker has increased but the wages have not kept pace, nor have benefits or respect.

Now I am not now, nor will I likely ever be a proponent for a drastic and sudden minimum wage hike. It just doesn’t make sense from an economic perspective as it doesn’t better the lives or wealth of the employee. In fact, it actually helps to increase the wealth gap between the rich and the poverty line as well as between the rich and the middle class. I have some solutions to propose but that is a discussion for another day.

Nevertheless, something must be done to create amicability between the employer and employee. The employer has been reaping greater benefits year after year while the employee has paid for them. Today businesses are wondering where all the labor has gone. It is the employer that is in the hot seat rather than the laborer.

This is because the scales have tipped to give employees greater leverage in their negotiating power and businesses are still trying to hold onto the same, antiquated ways of doing business. We are currently in the age of a paradigm shift, and this could go very wrong or very right, but regardless of the long term outcome the status quo is soon to be no more.

So what can businesses do to entice employees to stay or even apply?

1. Let the skillset match the job

2. Make the pay match the skills

3. Invest in developing the employees Skills Knowledge and Abilities

4. Emphasize Work/Life Balance

5. Transition from Managers to Leaders Managers

6. Transition to “gig”/contract labor where possible

There is in my opinion a strong connection between the rising productivity/wage gap and the ever-growing qualifications at every level of work. Employers are hiring employees at incredible discounts by hiring only overqualified employees for wages far beneath their skillsets. Until now, employees had to settle for whatever they could get and work hard to advance in their organizations, so this was an absolute win for businesses. There was also little need to invest in the employees because they were already capable of doing their jobs and the jobs well above their paygrades. Besides, its not like they were going anywhere. Most other jobs were the same and if they did try to “shop around” they would be labeled as a “job hopper” and really hurt their employment opportunities. In short, looking for something better was a risky endeavor for an employee.

Work/life balance wasn’t and still isn’t generally a concern for many employers. The transaction is a mutual agreement, the employee sells the employer their time and that’s the end of it. But why does the agreement feel so one sided? Because the employer held all the leverage.

What is the number one question you are likely to be asked in an interview? “Why did you leave your last job?” There’s no grand capitalistic conspiracy to keep the working folk under control of big business or anything like that, but it happens to work out the same as if there were. This question is difficult to answer because an honest answer can mean you don’t get the job. If your previous employer decides to no longer engage in your transaction of selling your time, then that termination reflects very poorly on you and can make it difficult for you to provide for yourself or your family in the future; however, if you decide to no longer sell your time to a specific employer, then that employer will suffer no long term consequences yet you still may be looked down upon for leaving in search of employment elsewhere in some cases.

Now employers need to see their relationship with employees differently and for the partnership it is. Employees have always been encouraged to look out for the best interests of the businesses for whom they work, even while off the clock. Now its time for employers to do the same for their employees if there is any hope of salvaging their abilities to hold onto workers. Leaders who care about building up their employees and operating as a team can go a long way in achieving this. Management that cares about their employees can make great strides in reducing absenteeism, presenteeism, burnout and turnover while raising productivity. This shift doesn’t have to be a negative for anyone, but is instead an opportunity to build a better way of doing business.

Offering greater flexibility, allowing for work on demand jobs when possible, treating employees with respect, matching skills with the job position, and investing in employees growth all seem like obvious opportunities to develop and retain a motivated and powerful workforce, but first the idea that employees are beneath the employer in this odd power struggle must be done away with. There is strength in unity and as long as employers try to hold onto the power businesses will face loss and employees will continue to seek opportunities outside of the traditional model.