I gained a little insight into the “Great Delaware Quit” during a visit to Kohls.
While standing at the popular Amazon return center at the store, a man behind me was in an animated phone conversation with a friend or family member.
“There are lots of jobs, but before you quit one, have one,” he advised in a fatherly tone, adding that the individual needed to think about supporting his family before making such a rash decision.
The current environment may be leading to a lot of these conversations.
It appears to be a reflection of a younger generation more prone to take risks and less willing to put up with bad bosses and office politics. With the end of fixed pensions and fewer long-term incentives, spending much of a lifetime working for one employer is becoming a rarity.
Add that individual to the millions of people who quit before securing another gig, and you have a labor market in flux. There is also a gig economy with food delivery and Lyft-Uber jobs available. Breaking even on that type of work is difficult, due to high gas prices, although it might be enough to make a car payment.
The danger is that in some sectors of the economy, a slowdown could be on the way as the Federal Reserve tries to apply the brakes to inflation through interest rate hikes.
Fast-forward to another overheard conversation where two individuals were commiserating over slices of pizza about the recent loss of staffers.
One of the departed staffed was described as a star employee whose performance had been moving in the other direction more recently. The other was not viewed as less than a major loss.
This sort of churn and an increasingly mobile workforce willing to vote with their feet when things turn south will keep small business owners up at night. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
