Beyond 'The Great Resignation': How the U.S. Job Market Broke

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 12 January 2022

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In recent months, headlines about the so-called “Great Resignation” have abounded: Americans, the story goes, are reevaluating their work lives and leaving their jobs in droves. But although quitting is at historic levels, many economists say the trend is widely misunderstood. We’ll talk with experts about what the data really say, and look at how the rest of the world sees what's wrong with the American labor market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for KGBD Podcasts comes from Landmark College, offering a fully online graduate-level
0:06.1	certificate in learning differences in neurodiversity program. Visit landmark.edu slash certificate to learn more.
0:13.9	Support for Forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:21.4	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:27.7	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia.
0:31.7	When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and
0:40.2	devotion. The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only,
0:47.2	May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now at Broadwaysf.com.
0:54.7	From KQED.
0:56.1	From KQED.
1:09.0	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:10.9	There's something deeply weird going on with our job market.
1:14.5	Americans quit their jobs at record levels last year, a phenomenon that gathered the clever title, The Great Resignation.
1:20.8	Despite the fact that wages are moving upwards after years of stagnation, there are more than 10 million job openings out there, the highest number
1:28.6	in decades. And that means the percentage of our population in the labor force is stuck down at
1:34.3	1970s levels. We dig into this American labor mystery, and then our own Luke Sy joins us to
1:41.3	talk about the foods we eat when we're sick. That's coming up next.
1:44.7	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. So here is the central question I want to explore today.
2:03.0	If there are a bunch of jobless people and there are a bunch of job openings, why aren't the people taking the jobs?
2:09.7	Or put a little bit differently, if U.S. firms want to hire, why aren't they creating positions that actually attract workers?
2:17.3	And to explore that, we're going to do something just a little different and look at our unique problems in a global context with help from people who think a lot, not just about the U.S., but other similar countries.
2:28.1	So today to talk about what's wrong with the U.S. job market, we're joined by Ulrika Melmendié, Professor of Economics and Finance
	...

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