If so many jobs are available, why aren't more people taking them?

Thanks for reading The Hustle, a newsletter that highlights the most insightful commentary on LinkedIn related to frontline workers and the issues that matter to them most. Quotes below may be edited for clarity. 

In today’s economy, we have too many jobs and not enough takers. 

The September report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that, by the end of July, an estimated 10.9 million job roles had gone unfilled. That's the highest number of unfilled openings ever recorded in the survey's history, which dates back to December 2000. July also marked an increase of nearly 800,000 job openings over the previous month’s report, which was itself a record high. 

Overall, the record for unfilled jobs reported by BLS has been broken four times this year. 

Why are so many jobs going unfilled? It’s not for a lack of workers on the hunt for a job. The BLS estimates that 8.4 million people were unemployed in August. That’s up by almost 3 million people from February 2020’s report, just before the pandemic came into full swing in the U.S.

So, what’s driving this gap? Over the past week or so, hundreds of people on LinkedIn offered their take, in what is one of the most compelling comment threads this newsletter has seen all year. 

Below, this edition of The Hustle will highlight some of the most insightful responses to this question: 

The view from The Break Room

Most news stories about the job market that prompt discussion on LinkedIn usually lead to commentary about pay.

So, when I asked members of The Break Room, the private forum on LinkedIn dedicated to retail and customer service professionals, whether the record high of unfilled jobs should be attributed to either too many jobs being undesirable, or too many employers being unresponsive, it was unsurprising to see responses sound off on compensation.

“From what I can see and from personal experience, the jobs are undesirable,” said a San Antonio-based member, who works in healthcare administration. “We are finding that even single people without children are finding it hard to live on customer service wages. Prices are steadily increasing, but pay is not. You can not reasonably expect someone to live off of $9-$13 dollars an hour, pay rent/mortgage, taxes, food, insurance and pay basic bills. Oh, and if you are smart...SAVE FOR THE FUTURE! While I agree that there are those who may have decided that it is better to try to live off of government assistance programs, that is not the majority.”

Meanwhile, another member of The Break Room echoed what others were saying both privately, in the forum, and publicly, on LinkedIn, that workers in specific industries were making a decision to simply not return to certain sectors due to the treatment they’ve received from customers.

“I tend to surround myself with the retail and food service crowd,” wrote one South Carolina-based retail worker. “Customers scream that no one wants to work. These workers are leaving their industry period. Staffing gets so low in places that it causes others to quit because they’re overwhelmed and overworked… Many I’ve talked to are going to call centers or distribution because they’re scared of customers. I’ve never seen people this rude shopping in my entire 20 years of retail.”

For more commentary from The Break Room, click the button below.

Demanding too much, for way too little

Among the explanations LinkedIn members shared about why so many jobs remain unfilled nationwide, there was a trend of responses that charged employers with attaching an excessive amount of responsibilities to individual job roles.

“Money is part of it, but also, the amount of work and responsibilities thrown on these workers is a joke,” wrote Robert Basin, a Tampa area sales professional. 

Alan Mendelson offered an illustration that backs that argument, based on what he says he’s seen in the television industry.    

“Companies that want producers to create video don't want producers; they want producers who manage people, facilities, time, money AND do the work of graphic designers and cameramen and writers and video editors, and technicians and designers, and stage managers, and lighting technicians, and audio mixers, and directors, and grips who need to lift 50 pounds and be able to stand for long periods of time. And for all that they'll pay $20 an hour,” Mendelson wrote.

“Good luck, employers.”

Adjacent to the argument that employers demand too many responsibilities from employees is the argument that job roles also require an excessive amount of experience.

“Employers need to increase starting wages. They also should stop requiring that all people hired come completely trained with years of experience,” wrote Marne Allbee, a Washington-based retail clerk. “They need to train or offer training. New hires don’t come out of the gate with all the required experience. Skipping these candidates lowers your pool to pull from and takes longer to fill a position.”

To learn more about the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ job openings survey, and what people on LinkedIn are saying about it, click here.

Looking on the bright side

While the number of job openings have consistently reached unprecedented levels over the year, a couple of LinkedIn members highlighted another statistic that provided reason for optimism. 

“You know, if you actually look up the numbers, there isn't that big of a reason to be alarmed here,” wrote Sean Martin, a St. Louis-based financial services professional. 

Yolanda Walker, a Colorado based sales professional, echoed the sentiment. “While open positions are high, the actual unemployment rate is only 5.2 percent which is not extremely high considering natural unemployment is 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent,” she wrote.

To be clear, the current unemployment rate is still above pre-pandemic levels — it was at 3.5 percent in February 2020 — but, both Martin and Walker do have a point. “Natural unemployment,” which, in layman’s terms, is the level of unemployment one could expect in even a healthy economy, is estimated to be around 4.45 percent, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The unemployment rate has been steadily decreasing towards that mark since the start of the year.

Still, both LinkedIn members, along with many others, did agree that retail and restaurant employers, in particular, face a challenge in attracting workers back to their industries.

“One of the main differences I see is people are no longer working 2-3 jobs,” Walker wrote. “People are over low pay and unpredictable schedules with little to no benefits. The businesses that have made work from home or hybrid models work this last year are doing great. Retail that refuses to adapt, not so much. People are looking for better pay and better work life balance. This new generation is not willing to just take anything to get by with three roommates and we shouldn't expect them to.”

Why do you think the level of job openings is at an all time high? Share your thoughts in the comments.