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A Workplace Resolution For 2023 By Richard D. Alaniz, Alaniz Law & Associates
issues, the highest inflation in forty years, significantly more voluntary employee quits than usual, and insufficient applicants to replace them. Unfortunately, 2023 seems to offer not reprieve but more uncertainty. Given this set of circumstances, perhaps employers’ resolution for the new year should be to simply control the space they are readily able to control – their own workplace. Perhaps for the first time truly focusing on making the workplace and employees that make it go, the prime focus. It could pay multiple dividends.
M Employers in numerous industries
continue to face persistent hiring difficulties, with “Help Wanted” signs ubiquitous across much of the country and combined with limited applicants employers face a serious quandary. The result is one of the most confounding labor markets we have ever seen. Monthly hiring is consistently reported in the hundreds of thousands, while 9-10 million job openings are consistently reported across economy. Estimates are that 1.7 job vacancies exist for every person available to fill them, leading to the lowest unemployment rate in decades.
However, while unemployment
remains low and many employers struggle to find qualified applicants, thousands of employees are being laid off in other sectors of the economy. The workforce reductions have been most pronounced in the tech, media,
86 ❘ February 2023 ®
any businesses began 2023 shortly following or still in the midst of supply chain
financial services, and automotive industries. Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Twitter have all reduced staff and frozen hiring. In the case of Amazon, it announced recently that it is eliminating 18,000 positions, while Microsoft has indicated it will cut 10,000 jobs. CNN, The New York Times, Gannett, and Buzz Feed have all announced or implemented staff
reductions. Goldman Sachs is
eliminating 4,000 positions as 2023 begins. Morgan Stanley has announced that it is reducing staff by 1,600, while Credit Suisse has cut 2,700 jobs in 2022, and plans to eliminate a total of 9,000 by the end of 2025. At least 15 other financial institutions have already cut employees or announced staff reductions in the near future. Additionally, the rapidly rising interest rates have caused real estate and mortgage-related firms to substantially reduce workers as well. Mortgage start-up
Better.com has cut over 7,000 employees. Realtor Remax has laid off 17% of its workforce, and real estate brokerage firm Compass has cut more than 10% of its staff. Automaker Stellantis has shuttered a large auto assembly plant in Illinois, while electric carmaker Rivian has announced the layoff of at least 5% of its workers. In June 2022 Tesla laid off approximately 10% of its salaried workers and has announced that it will begin more layoffs in the 1st quarter of 2023.
Amidst the rash of voluntary quits,
steady hiring, and widespread layoffs, the workforce participation rate was 62.1% as of November 2022, substantially below the pre-pandemic rate of 63.4%.
Both of those numbers are well below the peak of 67.3% during the 2000 dot com boom. In practical terms this means that there are more than 6½ million fewer workers in the economy today. With a reduced pool of potential labor and many of these workers “job hopping” to seek better pay and benefits, more flexibility, a better work life balance, or a career change, it is incumbent upon employers to optimize their position. The challenge for employers in 2023 will continue to be the hiring and retaining the workers needed to run a successful business. This underscores why having a satisfied and dedicated workforce is more critical than ever. While competitive pay and benefits are of course of primary importance, another primary reason why employees remain or choose to leave a job relates to how they are perceived and treated by management. Employees quit bosses, not companies. In a pre-pandemic survey, nearly half of the employees interviewed said that they had quit a job because of a bad manager or supervisor. In a Hays study involving almost 2000 employees, 43% said that the corporate culture was the primary reason they were looking for a new job.
Now, more than ever, it is
imperative that the workplace truly be employee-centric. This means showing employees that they are valued and appreciated for what they do to make the company successful. It requires open communication and the ability for employees to give feedback without fear of repercussion (an open-door policy). It requires managers and supervisors
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