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More people are taking on second jobs because they literally can’t afford not to. September 12, 2024 - Fortune Magazine You’ve heard it before, the side-hustle success story. It usually comes from a person that seems perpetually on a diet of Red Bull and power bars. In reality, many American's have an extra job, but that’s not because of some caffeine-fueled passion; rather, it’s simply because many can’t afford to just have one source of income in this economy. It’s a recent development, as 54% of Americans have added a side hustle “to supplement their primary income” within the past year, per a MarketWatch Guides study. While surveying a group of 2,000 Americans, the business-news website found that many are turning to another job just to make ends meet. While inflation recently has ebbed, wages were outpaced by the high cost of living for a couple years. People are still feeling the sting from not being able to build wealth as much, as productivity increased and average worker pay moved at a relative snail’s pace. That all leads to 66% of Americans reporting to be living paycheck to paycheck, 57% of which add that they’ve tacked on other gigs to cushion their income. Some people are turning to extra jobs for not just income reasons: 48% of respondents who aren’t living paycheck to paycheck took on a side gig. Part of what likely is happening is that people are looking for extra stability, too, as trust between companies and their employers wanes during a time of layoffs in concentrated sectors. But even with an extra job, overworked Americans are still feeling financially precarious. It’s a much steeper uphill battle for those who are already vulnerable, as those with a side hustle are more likely than those who don’t have one to report living paycheck-to-paycheck. And even with their added sources of income, 44% of those with side gigs report still feeling financially insecure. The top obstacles to both people with and without side-hustles include the high cost of living and not enough income. It seems as a second gig can't even salve the sting of the current economy. #jobs #work #working #laborforce #economy #money #wages

Half of Employees Are Job Hunting September 11, 2024 While the Great Resignation might be in remission, employees are still scanning job sites. But company leaders can take steps to halt employer turnover in its tracks. Fifty-one percent of U.S. employees "are watching or actively seeking a new job," according to a new report from Gallup--the greatest percentage since 2015--echoing other recent reports from the likes of LinkedIn and PwC. Workers' itch to switch jobs isn't new. Voluntary turnover reached record-breaking heights in recent years, and in the spring of 2022, 4.5 million workers were quitting their jobs every month--the height of a period that became known as the Great Resignation. As hiring and wage growth gradually cooled, though, employees grew less likely to leave. In May, the quits rate remained at 2.2 percent for the seventh consecutive month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels. But that doesn't mean workers are happy about staying put. Now, as Gallup reports, many employees are actively seeking their next step as their "long-term commitment to their organizations" declines. #work #working #laborforce #unemployment #employment #career

US job openings fell in July to the lowest since the start of 2021 and layoffs rose, consistent with other signs of slowing demand for workers. Available positions decreased to 7.67 million from a downwardly revised 7.91 million reading in the prior month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as JOLTS, showed Wednesday. The figure was lower than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The decline in openings coincides with recent data that show the labor market is softening, which has raised concern among Federal Reserve officials. Job growth has been slowing, unemployment is rising and jobseekers are having greater difficulty finding work, fueling fears about a potential recession. The number of layoffs rose to 1.76 million, the highest since March 2023 and led by dismissals at leisure and hospitality firms. At the same time, hiring picked up slightly from the lowest level since April 2020. Openings fell in health care, state and local government as well as trade and transportation. The number of vacancies per unemployed worker, a ratio the Fed watches closely, declined to 1.1, still the lowest in three years. At its peak in 2022, the ratio was 2 to 1. The so-called quits rate, which measures people who voluntarily leave their job, edged up to 2.1%, still near the lowest since 2020. That suggests people are less confident in their ability to find a new position than they were a couple years ago.  #unemployment #jobs #employmentrate #labor #work #career

America Could See Exodus of Gen Z Quitting Their Jobs Newsweek Aug 26, 2024 early half of Americans are planning to leave their jobs in the next year, and Generation Z is likely to lead the mass resignations, according to a new report from Bankrate. In the report that was released on Monday, 48 percent of Americans said they were likely to search for a new job in the next 12 months. Gen Z, the generation born between the mid-1990s and the early 2010s, was especially likely to plan their resignation for the next year, with 39 percent saying they planned to quit their jobs this year. That was compared to just 25 percent of all workers. Meanwhile, only 29, 19, and 11 percent of millennials, Generation X and baby boomers, respectively, said the same. Bankrate commissioned YouGov to conduct the online survey, with a total sample size of was 2,326 U.S. adults of whom 1,124 are working full-time or currently looking for full-time employment. The survey was conducted between July 23 to 25, 2024. #jobs #GenZ #working #laborforce #labor #employment #unemployment #career

Judge halts ban on noncompete agreements August 22, 2024 The FTC’s rule prohibiting employee noncompete agreements was shot down. Judge Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas issued a summary judgment on Aug. 12 against the rule, which was to come into effect on Sept. 4. It effectively ends the rule for now, but Brown’s ruling can still be appealed, and the FTC said it intends to keep fighting. Noncompete agreements can restrict employees from working for a company’s competitors for a period of time within a specified geographic area after the worker leaves a company. The FTC’s ban had drawn concerns from within some corners of the staffing industry. The decision in this case has nationwide effect, wrote staffing industry attorney George Reardon in an analysis of the decision. The “court found that the FTC lacked authority to impose substantive rules on unfair methods of competition (what FTC considers non-competes to be),” Reardon wrote. “The court also held that, even if the FTC had sufficient authority to impose such rules, the rule that it actually created to ban non-competes is unconstitutional, arbitrary and capricious and is therefore unlawful.” Still, the decision may be appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, though Reardon noted that court is regarded as the most conservative of the federal appellate courts. Ultimately, the question of the noncompete ban could go before the US Supreme Court. In addition, the FTC can still prosecute individual noncompete cases using its theory that the non-competes are unfair methods of competition, Reardon wrote. However, it would have to proven that assertion case by case without the presumption of noncompete illegality the ban would have provided. Judge Brown’s ruling also runs counter to another federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that found the FTC has authority to ban noncompete clauses. #jobs #laborlaw #laborforce #labor #employment #unemployment #recruiting

Job seeker confidence still up: 45% say they could land job now August 20, 2024 Employee and job seeker confidence is on the rise across three key areas — job security, financial status and career advancement — according to the third-quarter Vaco Talent Pulse Report released Aug. 15 by global staffing firm Vaco. Nearly half, 45%, of job seekers reported being extremely confident in their ability to get and hold a job right now, known as “job security.” This is an increase from 35% in the second quarter and 39% in the third quarter of 2023. The study noted this is the highest confidence level in job security since the report’s inception in the third quarter of 2023. Optimism about career advancement is also growing, with 47% of workers expressing extreme confidence in their ability to advance over the next year, up 2% from the second quarter and year over year. However, the percentage of those somewhat confident dropped to 28%, while 25% reported lacking confidence. The survey also found that more workers are open to contract work, with 53% planning to or have already accepted a contract role in 2024, while 39% said they would only consider permanent roles. The findings come as separate research by the New York Federal Reserve found the proportion of job seekers is at its highest level since 2014. #employment #jobs #laborforce #unemployment #jobseekers #economy

US weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fall Reuters - August 15, 2024 Top News  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting an orderly labor market slowdown remained in place, though laid-off workers are finding it a bit difficult to land new jobs. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 227,000 for the week ended Aug. 10, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 235,000 claims for the latest week. A jump in the unemployment rate to near a three-year high of 4.3% in July stoked fears of a labor market deterioration, with financial markets betting that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates by 50 basis points next month. Layoffs, however, remain low by historic standards. The fourth straight monthly rise in the jobless rate was driven by an immigration-induced increase in labor supply, which is not being matched by hiring. Businesses have scaled back on hiring as the 525 basis points worth of rate hikes from the U.S. central bank in 2022 and 2023 curb demand. The Fed has maintained its benchmark overnight interest rate in the current 5.25%-5.50% range for a year. The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, fell 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.864 million during the week ending Aug. 3, the claims report showed. The so-called continued claims are near levels last seen in late 2021, indicating that more people are experiencing longer bouts of unemployment. #employement #work #labor #laborforce #unemployment #working #jobs