Friday, June 25, 2021

Quitting Time

Beyond the criminal abominations, it is the in$ulting eliti$m, not the CVD madness, that put me over the edge:


The ‘Great Resignation’ is looming, and Anthony Klotz, an associate professor of management at Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, says "burnout is one of the key predictors of turnover."

That's one reason I'm turning over. I find that the further I am from the Bo$ton Globe, the happier I am, and trying to play catch-up is stupid. It's old propaganda by now, and worthless -- like everything in their pages.

{@@##$$%%^^&&}

"How Do They Say Economic Recovery? ‘I Quit.’" by Sydney Ember New York Times, June 20, 2021

At some point early this year, Justin Hoffman concluded that he was being underpaid.

The marketing director at an orthopedic practice in Findlay, Ohio, Mr. Hoffman was making $42,000 a year — about $13,000 less, by his count, than people were making in similar jobs elsewhere, but when he asked for a raise in March, he was given only a small bump in pay. “That was kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said.

So after some careful thinking, Hoffman, 28, did what he had long ached to do: He quit. His last day was June 4.

Hoffman is among millions of workers who have voluntarily left their jobs recently, one of the most striking elements of the newly blazing-hot job market. The rate was particularly high in the leisure and hospitality industry, where competition for workers has been especially fierce, but the number of those quitting registered across the board.

Economists believe that one reason more workers are quitting is simply a backlog: By some estimates, more than five million fewer people quit last year than would otherwise be expected, as some workers, riding out the labor market’s convulsions, stuck with jobs they may have wanted to leave anyway, and the millions of involuntary job losses during the pandemic surely accounted for some of the reduction in quitting. Now that the economy is regaining its footing, workers may suddenly be feeling more emboldened to heed their impulses, but another factor may be the speed with which the economy has reawakened. As the pandemic has receded and the great reopening has swept across the country, businesses that had gone into hibernation or curtailed their work force during the pandemic have raced to hire employees to meet the surging demand.

[Time to close this down, yes]

At the same time, many people remain reluctant to return to work because of lingering fears of the virus, child care or elder care challenges, still-generous unemployment benefits, low wages or other reasons.

The result has been an explosion of job openings, despite a relatively high unemployment rate, as businesses struggle to recruit and retain employees — a dynamic that has placed power more firmly in workers’ hands. With employers offering higher wages to attract candidates, many workers — especially in low-wage positions in restaurants and hotels — are leaving their jobs and jumping to ones that pay even slightly more.

[We ju$t witne$$ed the most ma$$ive transfer of wealth upwards in human history, and the NYT piece of $hit writes that?

It would be laughable were it not so criminally sad]

The pandemic has driven workers to quit for other reasons as well. With fewer opportunities for spending, some people were able to save money and pay down their debts, giving them a cushion to leave jobs with which they were dissatisfied. Other workers, disinclined to give up remote work, are abandoning jobs that are no longer affording them as much flexibility.

For Hoffman, the decision to leave his job was the culmination of months of perceived injustices, which he said he was able to evaluate more clearly because of the pandemic. As coronavirus cases swelled in the fall, he asked to work from home because of the risk he feared he posed to his sister, whose immune system is compromised. His request was denied, he said, crystallizing his sense that he was not respected or valued.

[Perceived injustices, not actual injustices like from 400 years ago with CRT.

What we do know is the bought-off by private equity pre$$ doesn't respect or value its readers. Either that, or I am not supposed to be one.

Btw, I have been where Hoffman has been, several times, and I have walked off the job, period because of the above -- only to realize later it was I who had the unreasonable(?) demands. That was the job. If you don't like it, quit.... so I did. No notice, no nothing.

I don't regret it for a number of reasons; however, it wasn't the $marte$t move and $et me back]

Over the last year, with the pandemic limiting his social interactions, he began to network over Twitter with other people in marketing. That was how he determined that he was being significantly underpaid.

Hoffman, who is now looking for work, said he probably would have quit eventually, but the pandemic, he said, hastened his decision.

“I think that if the pandemic hadn’t happened, then things wouldn’t have turned out this way,” he said. “It didn’t just change my perspective on my compensation, but I think it’s changed a lot about my understanding of the relationship between employers and employees.”

[He's lucky he had a job at all, and it was in the burgeoning field of medical tyranny, too]

On a more philosophical level, the constant threat of illness, more time with family members, leisure time that gave way to new passions — all may have prompted some workers to reassess how they want to spend their time. Burned out, some people have left their jobs for once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like traveling the world. Others have seen an opportunity to shift careers or branch out on their own.

[Who?

During the allegedly worst pandemic in a century when the entire world was and still is locked down to some extent?

Speechless astonishment]

Start-ups surged during the pandemic, particularly in Black communities, as stimulus checks and unemployment benefits helped seed entrepreneurs’ dreams and bolster their confidence.

[OMG]

“The pandemic, for a lot of people, was really stressful and caused a lot of uncertainty, so I think what a lot of people did was reflect on their lives,” said Anthony Klotz, an associate professor of management at Texas A&M University who studies employee resignations.

[There he is again]

Klotz said people were accustomed to work being at the center of their lives and identities — a reality that may have shifted during the pandemic. “In general, we want a life of contentment and a life that has purpose,” he said, “and I think for many people, they’ve discovered that contentment and purpose for them may lie outside of work.”

[Just finding that out, huh, because my purpose and life always lay outside making money for the man. What do you think we live for?

I mean, the attitude here is one of a New York Times $lavema$ter talking down to his slaves while chuckling]

That was the case for Matt Gisin, 24, who gave notice at his job as a graphic designer at a health and wellness company this month. During the pandemic, he was able to work remotely, and without a commute, he had more time for hobbies like CrossFit and video game streaming.

“I got very adjusted to all of this time and all of this freedom,” he said, but slowly, his company began requiring employees to come back into the office, first for two days a week, then three, then four. With so many people commuting to work in their cars, his trip from his home in Mamaroneck, N.Y., to the middle of Long Island could stretch to two hours each way, leaving him little time for his pastimes. “I wasn’t happy anymore,” he said. “I was finding happiness in a lot of outside activities so I took this kind of leap to leave.” He now hopes to find a job in the video game industry.

Economists expect the elevated level of quitting to continue for some time, as the pandemic eases and the economy rebalances.

[That is going to be the pre$$ narrative to cover the massive poverty and worthle$$ money that is coming soon -- and then they can hire the migrants all across the board]

“I would be surprised if this ended before the summer ended,” said Andrew Chamberlain, the chief economist for the hiring site Glassdoor, but he also said there was an “expiration date”: A high number of workers quitting will contribute to a labor shortage, eventually forcing employers to raise wages and provide other incentives, which will help lure workers back and re-establish economic equilibrium.

[PFFFFT!]

In the meantime, he said, workers — especially those with low wages — will continue to gain leverage over employers.....

[Uh-huh!]


If the pre$$titues had any honor they would all resign, but.....


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The Wa$hington Compo$t also quits!

"Retail workers are quitting at record rates for higher-paying work: ‘My life isn’t worth a dead-end job’" by Abha Bhattarai Washington Post, June 21, 2021

Retail workers, drained from the pandemic and empowered by a strengthening job market, are leaving jobs like never before.

Americans are ditching their jobs by the millions, and retail is leading the way with the largest increase in resignations of any sector. Some 649,000 retail workers put in their notice in April, the industry’s largest one-month exodus since the Labor Department began tracking such data more than 20 years ago.

Some are finding less stressful positions at insurance agencies, marijuana dispensaries, banks, and local governments, where their customer service skills are rewarded with higher wages and better benefits. Others are going back to school to learn new trades, or waiting until they are able to secure reliable child care.


’'It was a really dismal time, and it made me realize this isn’t worth it,’' said 23-year-old Aislinn Potts of Murfreesboro, Tenn., who left her $11-an-hour job as an aquatic specialist at a national pet chain in April to focus on writing and art. ’'My life isn’t worth a dead-end job.’'

[Like being a ma$$ media reporter]

In interviews with more than a dozen retail workers who recently left their jobs, nearly all said the pandemic introduced new strains to already challenging work: Longer hours, understaffed stores, unruly customers, and even pay cuts.

[With each passing paragraph, it becomes insulting in the extreme]

Christina Noles spent much of the pandemic working the closing shift at a dollar store — sometimes nine consecutive days without a break — for $10.25 an hour. She felt isolated, anxious, and demoralized.

Last month, the 34-year-old from Concord, N.C., quit, leaving the industry she’s worked in for most of her adult life. Now she works from home for a local law firm — a job that, three days in, still seems too good to be true.

’'There’s a part of me that feels like this must all be a dream,’' Noles said. ’'There were a lot of things I liked about retail: I love talking to people and helping them, but the pandemic made me realize it was untenable.’' 

[It very may well be given the past history of the pre$$.

Jason Blair -- or Kevin Cullen, for that matter?]

Labor professors and economists say the pandemic also made it harder for the nation’s 15 million retail workers to find reliable child care and public transportation, but now that life is returning to normal, analysts say, workers have begun to realize they have options, capitalizing on the latest waves of hiring and government stimulus as catalyst for career change. Companies of all sizes, meanwhile, are offering a host of perks, from free appetizers to subsidized college courses, to attract and keep workers.

[It's anything but, you monsters.

Just have to be vexed is all!]

’'We’re seeing a wider understanding that these were never good jobs and they were never livable jobs,’' said Rebecca Givan, a professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University. ’'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.’'

[Yeah, because they are all going under as Amazon makes record profits. 

HMMMM!]

It is too soon to tell, she said, whether the latest exodus reflects a long-term shift away from retail work. Some employees, for example, may return to the industry once child care is more readily available and other pandemic-related challenges ease, but others are turning to industries where workers are in high demand.

[The Great Re$et and coming climate lockdowns will take care of that -- as the elite jet $et roams the earth]

Noles said she began mulling a career change after five colleagues tested positive for the coronavirus late last year. Her lucky break, she said, came on a particularly busy night when the checkout lines snaked to the back of the store. A customer in line, who was charmed by her upbeat nature and impressed that not a single customer left despite the wait, encouraged her to apply for an opening at her law firm. Noles applied in April and, a few weeks later, was offered the job as an intake specialist, earning $13 an hour, plus benefits.

[Wait a minute.

I was told the job left her isolated, anxious, and demoralized, and yet she was charming with an upbeat nature? 

What a PHONY who "got lucky!"

Beyond that is the long line in the age of infectious corona. 

This is really the limit, folks]

With much of the country easing pandemic-era restrictions, service establishments like restaurants, gyms, and salons are offering better pay and benefits to rebuild the staffs that got gutted during the crisis. Sectors like real estate, professional services, banking and insurance are also hiring — often at higher wages than retail, where median hourly pay for store employees hovers around $13 — in anticipation of renewed demand, according to Julia Pollak, a labor economist for the site ZipRecruiter.

’'In a tight labor market, we often see big shifts among workers with low earnings,’' she said. ’'If you’re making $12 an hour and there’s a job down the street offering $12.50, why not jump? There’s no reason not to — which is what’s happening now.’'

’'Hiring now’' signs are cropping up on storefronts big and small as retailers scramble to fill openings. Many have raised wages or benefits to keep up. Target, Best Buy, Under Armour, and Kay Jewelers all recently increased starting minimums to $15 an hour, while Amazon is offering sign-on bonuses as high as $1,000 to new employees. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

[Go take a walk]

Overall, retailers had nearly 1 million job openings in April, more than twice as many as they did a year ago.

Millions of retail workers were let gounknowingly permanentlyearly on in the pandemic as dozens of retailers tumbled into bankruptcy, shuttered locations, and sometimes liquidated thousands of stores. The result was a bifurcated industry — with booming business at supermarkets, pharmacies, and hardware stores, while spending on clothing and other nonessential items tanked. Now that spending patterns are evening out again, retailers are having to hire accordingly to meet demand.

[Who benefitted, and not one word about all the shortages]

Some labor experts, though, say retailers are not going far enough in addressing structural problems in the industry. Retailers, they say, should be focusing more on stable schedules, safer working conditions, and benefits like paid sick leave and vacation time.

[What a laugh considering the source]


{@@##$$%%^^&&}

Maybe you can freelance it like the Globe:

"After the pandemic, expect more work for freelancers" by Samantha Subin Globe Correspondent, June 20, 2021

The workplace is not what it used to be, and as it eases into a post-pandemic new normal, one change that took hold before COVID-19 is likely to continue: companies hiring freelancers and independent contractors to save money.

[WaPo said normal]

A study conducted by Harvard Business School and Boston Consulting Group from November 2019 to January 2020 found that 60 percent of the 700-plus US business leaders surveyed would prefer torent, borrow, or share talent” with other companies, and 60 percent anticipate a core workforce with fewer full-time staff.

[You will own nothing and be happy!]

With the pandemic underscoring the relative ease of remote work, it’s likely that some companies may decide to hire freelancers who can log on from anywhere, and while many may associate freelancing with ride-hailing and food-delivery jobs with businesses like Grubhub and Uber, it’s becoming more common in white-collar areas like IT, digital marketing, and user-experience design as companies look to build out websites and security systems, said Nithya Vaduganathan, an author of the Harvard study and a managing director and partner at Boston Consulting.

[Oh, the "good jobs!"]

“It’s really hard for a company that can’t pay top dollar, isn’t in a location where talent congregates, [or] is not an industry that enjoys a buzz factor to get this type of talent, and the supply is short,” said Joseph B. Fuller, another author of the study and a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School.

Using freelancers enables businesses, especially small companies, to hire expensive talent part time and keep costs low. While freelance work has its perks for employers, it also offers flexibility and autonomy to workers, including control over when they work, how, and on what projects, Vaduganathan said, and over time, experienced freelancers earn similar pay working fewer jobs, said Phillip Lewis, senior vice president at Aquent, a Boston staffing agency with over 500,000 available workers in its pool.

[Isn't that what a corre$pondent is?

Yeah, f**k the $taff]

A recent study from the freelancing website Fiverr found that 80 percent of the skilled contractors surveyed said they expected to earn the same or more in 2021 as in 2020, but there is a downside for freelancers: no benefits. No health insurance, sick time, vacations, or retirement benefits, either.

[Awwwwwwwwww]

David Coppins, cofounder and CEO of IntelyCare, a staffing company that matches nursing professionals with nursing and assisted-living facilities, grappled with whether to hire workers as independent contractors. He opted not to, a move he said shows loyalty to his staff.

Companies that can make money only with independent contractors have a “flawed” business model, he believes.

“Classifying workers as contractors is like saying, ‘Let me just use you for a period of time and then let you go,’ ” Coppins said.....


Time for her to quit her job!

Then she can sit home and watch $ports all the time.

{@@##$$%%^^&&}


As the national economy recovers from the pandemic and begins to take off, New York City is lagging, with changing patterns of work and travel threatening the engines that have long powered its jobs and prosperity.

New York has suffered deeper job losses as a share of its work force than any other big American city, and while the country has regained two-thirds of the positions it lost after the coronavirus arrived, New York has recouped fewer than half, leaving a deficit of more than 500,000 jobs.

Restaurants and bars are filling up again with New Yorkers eager for a return to normal, but scars are everywhere. Boarded-up storefronts and for-lease signs dot many neighborhoods. Empty sidewalks in Midtown Manhattan make it feel like a weekend in midweek. Subway ridership on weekdays is less than half the level of two years ago.

The city’s economic plight stems largely from its heavy reliance on office workers, business travelers, tourists and the service businesses catering to all of them. All eyes are on September, when many companies aim to bring their workers back to the office and Broadway fully reopens, attracting more visitors and their dollars, but even then, the rebound will be only partial.

[September will be the 20th anniversary of a literally earth-shaking event, so expect a surprise false flag]

The shift toward remote work endangers thousands of businesses that serve commuters who are likely to come into the office less frequently than before the pandemic, if at all. The Partnership for New York City, a business advocacy group, predicts that by the end of September, only 62 percent of office workers will return, mostly three days a week.

Restoring the city to economic health will be an imposing challenge for its next mayor, who is likely to emerge from the Democratic primary on Tuesday. The candidates have offered different visions of how to help struggling small businesses and create jobs.

“We are bouncing back, but we are nowhere near where we were in 2019,” said Barbara Byrne Denham, senior economist at Oxford Economics. “We suffered more than everyone else, so it will take a little longer to recover.”

[Cue violins, bring whine and cheese, pffffffft]


If they are going to flat-out lie and distort about something so basic as the economy, what wouldn't they lie about?

Avoid the Rotten Apple at all co$ts!

I'm done winging it

It is time to forget this $hit for good and move beyond it.