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Businesses large and small are scrambling to fill open positions as the holidays loom large on the horizon, but they’re also struggling to process a revolution in employee demands and expectations. Today’s workers have shown a willingness to quit jobs that the country hasn’t seen in decades — and they’re quitting because their jobs aren’t fulfilling, don’t pay well or take them for granted. According to the Atlantic, they’re largely being rewarded for their restlessness as companies boost wages and benefits to try to convince them to stay.
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But employees aren’t the only ones who stand to benefit. The most adaptive and forward-thinking companies can use this extraordinary moment to revolutionize the workplace and position themselves at the forefront of the movement. The Great Resignation, it seems, is not going anywhere.
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The Wage-Disparity Chickens Are Coming Home To Roost
The pandemic might have been the catalyst for the Great Resignation, but the frustration that fueled it has been building for generations. Since 1978, top CEO compensation has grown by 1,322%, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), but wages for the common worker have grown by just 18%. Last year, as the pandemic raged, the CEOs of America’s 350 biggest companies took home an average salary of $24.2 million — more than 350 times that of the typical worker.
“It’s basic economics,” said Andrew Spearing, co-founder of Homevisor.com. “When wages on the lower end of the income scale haven’t kept pace with inflation for decades, are we surprised that millions of workers are seeking out greener pastures? If you run a corporation with a 100:1 income disparity between management and labor, it’s time to give a labor a raise.”
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Winning HR Models Will Be Based on Creative Benefits
As the EPI study pointed out, much of the wage disparity that defines American labor is concentrated in the biggest corporations. Small-business owners, on the other hand, are rarely making hundreds of times what they pay their workers. In fact, they’re often the lowest-paid employee in the company. If they can’t compete on salary, which so few can, then they have to get crafty with benefits.
“Smaller employers competing with larger companies are having …….