Evidence for the “great resignation” is thin on the ground
Job quits are not unusually high
AS THE EFFECTS of the Spanish flu waned in 1919, Seattle’s workers agitated. Many were fed up with long hours and poor pay, especially at a time of high inflation. Shipyard workers went on strike, leading others to down their tools in solidarity. Newspapers were filled with stories of machinists, firefighters and painters quitting their jobs. Events in Seattle sparked labour unrest across the rest of America and even much of the rich world. Bosses worried that the lower classes had become work-shy anti-capitalists.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “All mouth and no trousers”
Finance & economics December 11th 2021
- Evidence for the “great resignation” is thin on the ground
- The difficulties of policing remote work
- In word and deed, China is easing economic policy
- Two key questions for the European Central Bank
- The economics of a new China-Laos train line
- America is seeing both fast growth and high inflation
- Why the dollar’s ascendancy won’t last
- Crypto lobbying is going ballistic
From the December 11th 2021 edition
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