Navigating the New Job Market Part 1: Context
Not since the financial crisis of 2008 has there been as much job market flux as there is now. Job seekers are leaving positions, companies, and whole industries at a feverish pace. Why wouldn’t they? This is an applicant’s market, where employers scramble to entice new employees by offering beefier benefits, higher starting salaries, and all manner of lifestyle perks.
Perhaps you’re one of these applicants, scanning job boards, networking, and grooming your resumé. If so, congratulations! At www.idealinterviewco.com/blog, you’ll find plenty of crucial advice formation for your foray into the job market. But this is a cautionary blog as well as an informative one. Before giving your two weeks and leaving to seek a “better” opportunity elsewhere, it’s important we consider not just why the market is changing, but where it might go in the future. Only then can we best navigate this unpredictable job market, or whether we should even do so in the first place
You may have heard that, “Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. workers under 40 have thought about changing their occupation or field of work since the pandemic began,” According to the Washington Post, or that, “In May, the share of workers voluntarily quitting their jobs hit the highest level the Labor Department has recorded.” But it’s important to contextualize why:
“Many people told The Post that the pandemic altered how they think about what is important in...their careers. It has given them a heightened understanding that life is short and that now is the time to make the changes they have long dreamed of. The result is a great reassessment of work, as Americans fundamentally reimagine their relationships to their jobs.”
This is the underlying shift in the market: Americans are redefining the qualitative metrics we use to denote a job as good or bad. Many millennials, for instance, are far less attracted by salary offerings and much more by lifestyle benefits. Hence, the momentous debate around in-person vs. remote work. It’ll be lasting employee attitudes, rather than the pandemic itself, which will decide the future of office culture. This shift also explains why certain sectors are struggling. As per the Post, “Workers are hesitant to return to jobs in industries such as retail, restaurants and manufacturing that require a fixed schedule with in-person work, often at odd hours,” and which induce unhealthy diets, sleep schedules, and habits. An industry or position’s daily conditions and consequences are considerations which are frequently outweighing financial incentives like salaries, bonuses, and benefits.
One day soon, perhaps, sprawling books will be written which document and identify the exact reasons behind this tsunami of job movement. It will be informative and eye-opening and provide context for all these momentous changes. But for now, without such an encyclopedia, navigating the job market means, yes, engaging with the “great reassessment of work,” but also understanding that the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side. We should not simply be changing positions, industries, or companies because everyone else is. We should make certain that a career change is actually best.