Creative solutions for the ‘Great Resignation’
By Marcy Shortuse and T Michele Walker
The pandemic continues to transform the labor force. During the first months of 2021, millions left their jobs, resulting in what some call “the Great Resignation.”
As it is with many things, Gasparilla Island has not experienced the same worker shortage as the rest of the mainland, but it’s easy to see once you cross the causeway that “help wanted” signs are hanging in every restaurant and store, and many businesses are forced to close early due to a lack of employees. In fact, around the country businesses are struggling to find qualified employees, and many are starting to think outside the box.
While many retirees have gone back to work to take advantage of sign-on bonuses and additional income, there are also organizations like Easterseals who have highly-trained clients willing and ready to step into these available job opportunities.
And businesses are taking notice.
Don Herndon is the director of business development at Easterseals of Southwest Florida, where he plays a huge part in changing lives every day.
Don knew from the age of 16 that he had a gift for teaching and helping others. “I grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and I taught myself to snow ski. After that, I taught the rest of my family to snow ski. When I did that, I know it sounds kind of corny, but I just got the bug for wanting to help or teach people to get better at something.”
Easterseals Southwest Florida has been around for nearly 75 years. While it was begun to help to stop the spread of childhood polio, the agency today offers the highest quality of care and services to children, youth and adults with disabilities so that they can enjoy access, opportunities and increased life choices.
Carrie Rasmussen, community engagement director at Easterseals, said, “I love being part of an organization that gives people opportunities to live their lives to their fullest,” she said. “That’s not just a bunch of pat words to tug on the heartstrings. We truly want these people to be successful in whatever they’re able to do. For instance, we have a client named Chris, and he always wanted to work with robots. On the spectrum, Chris is shy and has communications issues, as well as several sensory issues. He can’t wear certain clothes and subsists on French fries because he has food texture issues.”
Easterseals placed Chris with a company called Sun Hydraulics, a Sarasota-based company that manufactures electro hydraulics.
“It’s a large, successful factory where they create and make valves. This worked out really well for Chris and now he’s there, moving up quickly into full-time employment where he will get benefits,” said Don. “Because we were able to create this great relationship, and they are loving the clients that we can bring to them, clients that have a natural ability to work with things and not people, this has worked out perfectly.”
A search for job flexibility
While part of what has made America so great is a constant, driven, dedicated workforce willing to work 24/7, the pandemic seems to have turned things more toward a European type of work ethic. More time off, a willingness to live on less income to enjoy life more and an overall feeling that “work does not define a person” has been creeping into the picture in our country.
In a recent article published by C/Net the discussion centered around millions of Americans – young and older – quitting their jobs to attempt to answer the question, “What do I really want to be when I grew up?”
According to the article, included in the top 10 Google searches regarding employment are jobs such as real estate agent, flight attendant, therapist, pilot, firefighter and personal trainer.
Meanwhile, those currently employed as real estate agents or firefighters are entertaining thoughts of becoming yoga instructors or organic farmers.
With roughly three percent of the workforce, or a total of 4.5 million workers, quitting their jobs in November of last year and an average of 3.9 million people per month who quit their jobs in 2021 – the highest average ever recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics since it began tracking the metric in 2000 – it isn’t surprising that many economists are starting to define this period in American history with a name that starts with “great.” The work ethic that culminated in the 1950s is no longer; people are re-evaluating their priorities, all thanks to a pandemic.
Fortune magazine has its own name for it: The Great Reshuffle. Many workers who lived in an office more than they lived at their home are now looking to work remotely in order to focus on their families. This leaves employers who rely on in-person employment, such as stores and restaurants, to treat their employees better in order the keep them.
Call it what you will, this period in America’s history is uncharted ground … and at this rate the chaos could very well get worse before it gets better.
fortune.com/2022/01/18/great-resignation-workplace-culture-flexibility-well-being-linkedin/
cnet.com/personal-finance/amid-the-great-resignation-these-are-the-top-searched-jobs-on-google/
