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Growing up, I've been blessed (and perhaps at times cursed) with the ability to see multiple sides to a situation, story, scenario or any S word you so choose.
For the past year, I've come across social media posts that show the phrase, "no one wants to work anymore."
If we take the words of this phrase literally, we make the assumption that everyone decided to stop working.
I would suggest not taking this phrase for its face value, as there may be scenarios that we are not aware of. I'd be more than happy to share a few:
-The pandemic hasn't gone away. Because of this, there are millions of individuals with immunocompromised systems who have to take extra precautions in their health such as social distancing. If my immune system wasn't the greatest, I would also be hesitant in working if my former employer wasn't taking the necessary precautions to retain employees.
-People are fed up. People employed in the service industry have reported being more berated by customers, due to staff shortage. It is causing employees to work a larger amount of hours, acquiring a higher level of stress. The increased lack of civility is everywhere, and it has led to employees considering other venues.
-We've lost 700,000 people to the pandemic. I mean, how can you accuse a person who passed away of not wanting to work? Unfortunately, the employee who passed away is not going to be able to fill that shift employers need. Show some empathy for them, as well as their loved ones who are going through unsurmountable grief after losing them. No one should be handling grief alone.
-The hiring crisis is NOT being driven by lazy people not wanting to work. I read an article about a social worker in Nevada seeing an increase in the demographic of individuals needing assistance. She reported that its not only unemployed people receiving benefits, its also people with minimum wage employment or individuals having to give up the need of childcare for going back to work. She pointed out if childcare is equal to an employees paycheck, employees don't see justifying going back to work.
-For others the pandemic meant people taking that plunge in careers that they may have wanted to pursue for a long time. With that in mind, individuals who have lower paying employment fear going back to their job with that stress. It perhaps is encouraging individuals to seek more education and training. I am very grateful to still have a full-time job and am able to continue my education part time. I know more people who don't have this opportunity and are barely getting by.
I encourage everyone, including myself, to take a few deep breaths before making the claim that "no one wants to work." There perhaps may be more going on in that person's life than we realize.