‘No One Wants to Work Anymore’ Is a Complaint as Old as Work Itself
As staffing shortages show no signs of abating, employers may want to rethink their approach.
A "Now Hiring" sign outside a business in Lithonia, Georgia.
Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
“It’s become apparent nobody wants to work in these hard times.”
Such statements have become emblematic of the Great Resignation and the years around the Covid-19 pandemic when workers quit en masse, refused to return to offices and embraced self-employment the most in more than a decade. The latest jobs report provided only more evidence: the labor force participation rate fell to the lowest level this year, and many restaurants, hotels and other businesses are still struggling with painful staffing shortages.