Worker Retention

In July, quits remained higher than pre-pandemic, as workers pursued better wages and working conditions in a strong job market.

Quits rate by industry

Dec 2000 - July 2022

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Notes: The quits rate is the number of quits during the entire month as a percent of total employment. Quits include employees who left voluntarily except retirements or transfers to other locations. Data is seasonally adjusted. July 2022 data is preliminary.

Enabled by a strong job recovery, more than 4 million workers quit jobs in July 2022 in pursuit of new jobs with better wages and working conditions. The job quits rate was highest in leisure and hospitality (5.3% in July) and in retail (3.7% in July) where wages are typically low and job growth has been particularly strong after major job losses in 2020.¹

Average hourly earnings have nudged upward from $30.92 in September 2021 to $32.46 in September 2022.² But corporate profits have surged — growing from a then record-high of $2.7 Trillion in Q3 2020 to $3.2 Trillion in Q3 2021 to $3.5 Trillion in Q2 2022 — suggesting that corporations have capacity to pay higher wages without contributing to inflation.^3,4

Buoyed by significant churn in the labor market, workers are increasingly demanding higher wages and better working conditions. A groundswell of grassroots activism has led to increased worker organizing across Starbucks and Apple stores and Amazon warehouses.^5,6,7 In addition to higher wages, greater union membership could contribute to more stable employment and reduced churn in the labor market over time.

1. “What Record Quit Rates Really Mean”. Regmi. Roosevelt Institute. May, 2022. https://rooseveltinstitute.org/2022/05/20/what-record-quit-rates-really-mean/

2. “Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private”. FRED. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000003

3. “National income: Corporate profits before tax (without IVA and CCAdj)”. FRED. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A053RC1Q027SBEA

4. “Concentrated Power, Concentrated Harm”. Brumfield, Tesfaselassie, Geary, and Aneja. Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality. March, 2022. https://www.georgetownpoverty.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ConcentratedPowerConcentratedHarm-March2022.pdf

5. “Starbucks workers have unionized at record speed; many fear retaliation now”. Hsu. NPR. October, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/10/02/1124680518/starbucks-union-busting-howard-schultz-nlrb

6. “Amazon warehouse workers in Albany will vote on unionization in October”. Selyukh. NPR. September, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/09/14/1122958027/amazon-union-election-vote-albany

7. “Oklahoma City Apple store becomes second in U.S. to vote to unionize. Suliman. The Washington Post. October, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/10/15/apple-store-oklahoma-city-union-vote/