More than half of Americans would switch careers if they could retrain as COVID reshapes workers’ views on wages and benefits, poll shows

At least 53% of Americans say if they could retrain, they’d jump ship to a career in an entirely different industry, according to Prudential’s latest Pulse of the American Worker Survey, which comes as the COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the economy and driven many workers to seek better wages, schedules and benefits.

Half of the 2,000 adults Prudential surveyed in May said the pandemic has given them more control in reshaping their career, and 48% are actively rethinking the type of job they want. Axios reported that nearly 40% of workers may quit after the pandemic — at a time when the U.S. is not prepared to retrain workers at mass scale.

The survey also comes as retail workers are quitting or choosing different fields at unprecedented rates just as stores — hungry for customers and retail associates to stock the shelves and sell products — reopen for business without pandemic restrictions. A whopping 649,000 retail workers quit in April, more than in any other month since the U.S. Department of Labor started tracking the data two decades ago, The Washington Post reported.

“The road ahead will see the market for talent heat up, and it will become increasingly competitive for employers to attract and retain top talent,” Prudential Vice Chair Rob Falzon said in a statement. “Employers looking to be a magnet for top talent in the post-pandemic economy must understand workers’ expectations of work and what they need from their jobs.”

Falzon added that employers will pay a premium for the right talent and skills, but that corporate America must “step up and invest” in skills training and on-the-job learning opportunities, including apprenticeship and rotation programs.

Of the workers surveyed who plan to leave their jobs, 50% said they were driven to find better compensation; 38% said they wanted a better work-life balance; 34% cited a lack of growth opportunities; and nearly a quarter said either they were tired of working on the same things or tired of a lack in learning opportunities.

While a host of retail, big tech and fast food chains have bumped wages and benefits and offered hefty sign-on bonuses, many workers are instead finding gigs with more manageable schedules, less stress, better benefits and higher pay in other industries. The Post reported that insurance agencies, banks, local governments and marijuana dispensaries are some of the main beneficiaries as hundreds of thousands of retail workers hang up their name tags.

“We’re seeing a wider understanding that these were never good jobs and they were never livable jobs,” Rebecca Givan, a labor studies and employment relations professor at Rutgers University, told the Post. “In many cases, the pay is below a living wage and the hours are inconsistent and insufficient. If anything, the pandemic has made retail jobs even less sustainable than they already were.”

Several companies are lifting hourly wages to at least $15 — the same target that’s long eluded progressive lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including several Massachusetts Democrats, who seek to hike the federal minimum wage beyond the $7.25 approved more than a decade ago. Since January of this year, Massachusetts employers generally must pay at least $13.50 per hour, the state’s minimum wage. By January of 2023, the minimum wage here will bump to $15.

Amazon already paid new warehouse and sorting center workers at least $15 an hour, but announced last month a pay increase between 50 cents and $3. The company hired half a million workers in 2020 to help keep up with the online shopping surge during the pandemic, USA Today reported.

Chipotle, which has more than 60 locations in Massachusetts, will hike wages to $15 per hour, while also offering employees referral bonuses of $200 and $750 for general managers, Reuters reported.

McDonald’s, with over 250 franchises across the state, announced last week that it’s rolling out minimum hourly wage bumps across for at least 36,500 workers across the country. Entry-level crews will now earn at least $11 to $17 per hour, and shift managers will now earn at least $15 to $20 hourly based on location, the fast food giant said in a statement. The company also highlighted its education, retirement and health programs as incentives to prospective hires.

Walmart, which operates nearly 50 Massachusetts stores, said earlier this year that’s pushing its average pay across the U.S. to at least $15.25 per hour.

The latest jobs report shows Massachusetts employers still struggling to fill jobs. An Associated Industries of Massachusetts survey in May showed 60% of employers currently have job openings and 53% say they cannot find qualified workers to fill those vacancies.

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