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More than a year after the coronavirus pandemic pushed millions of people out of their jobs, many of these workers are unemployed again.
But this time it’s voluntary.
In the so-called Great Resignation, millions of workers quit their jobs and look for greener pastures. Over the summer, according to Monster.com, a staggering 95% of workers surveyed said they were considering leaving their jobs.
As it turned out, these weren’t idle threats. In August alone, 242,000 workers quit their jobs, which, according to preliminary figures from the Federal Labor Statistics Office, reached a record high of 4.27 million on October 12.
Some areas of the workforce are particularly hard hit. Below are the five industries where most workers left their jobs in August.
Manufacture of durable goods
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Number of employees who quit in August: 12,000
Dropout rate for August: 2.1%
The BLS generally defines what it refers to as “termination” as “voluntary separations initiated by the employee” – in essence, this means that employees leave their jobs. This number excludes employees who left their jobs to retire.
The BLS defines the termination rate as the number of terminations during a whole month, expressed as a percentage of total employment. Consequently, according to the BLS, the termination rate can “serve as a measure of the willingness or ability of employees to leave their jobs”.
Public education
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Number of employees who quit in August: 25,000
Dropout rate for August: 0.7%
While a relatively large number of federal and local government education workers quit their jobs in August, that industry (with the federal government) has seen the lowest quitting rate.
Are you wondering what workers in this industry earn? To start, see How Much Teachers Are Paid In Each State.
Wholesale
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Number of employees who quit in August: 26,000
Dropout rate for August: 2.7%
retail trade
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Number of employees who quit in August: 39,000
Dropout rate for August: 4.7%
In addition to having the second highest total number of layoffs, retail had the second highest churn rate of any industry in August, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only the next industry on this list had a higher rate than retail.
Accommodation and catering
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Number of employees who quit in August: 157,000
Dropout rate for August: 6.8%
In addition to by far the highest churn rate in August, the hotel and restaurant industry also recorded by far the highest churn rate at 6.8%, followed by retailers at 4.7%.
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