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Companies are rolling out perks at a feverish clip to lure employees. 

Why it matters: The economy is roaring back. Companies are pulling out all stops to win over the workers they need to meet demand.

What’s happening: Walmart and Target say they will pay tuition for certain college programs for millions of employees.

Businesses are also offering extended time off, free Pelotons or one-time bonuses to attract workers — and keep the ones they have.

Yes, but: What’s actually enticing workers is the most old-fashioned perk: higher wages.

"After we made our announcement [to raise pay] back in April, we're getting close to full staffing levels,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski told investors.

The intrigue: Nearly 2 in 3 workers say they are looking for a new job, per a new survey by PwC. Employees said more money was the top reason they considered quitting.

The survey also finds a huge gulf between what employees want and what companies are offering.

Touting company values and culture, plus offering location flexibility, are the most common ways employers say they are trying to retain and attract workers.

But that’s on the bottom of the priority list for employees. At the top: more flexible schedules, higher pay and expanded benefits.

By the numbers: Employers are meeting the moment by steadily raising wages. In July, pay was 4% higher than this time last year. 

Wages in the hospitality sector — where worker shortage complaints are most acute — are 10% higher from last July as hiring rebounds.

Labor shortage has employers scrambling to offer new perks

What’s actually enticing workers is the most old-fashioned perk: higher wages.

Illustration of a briefcase being lifted from the ground by balloons

Balloons tied to a suitcase. Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

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Top stories & latest news on the Federal Reserve, real-time data, plus the biggest shifts happening in the U.S. and global economy.

Economy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

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Finish Line

Axios Finish Line

Companies are acting where government is not and pushing workers to get the jab to get the job.

Driving the news: The share of job postings on Indeed requiring vaccination has jumped 90% in just the last month.

The big picture: Vaccination rates in the U.S. are climbing, but hesitancy remains high in certain places. And the Delta variant is foiling companies' return-to-work plans.

Now, it's not just front-line jobs at restaurants and shops requiring vaccination. Postings for jobs in software development, marketing and sales are mandating that applicants have the shot too.

What's happening: At the beginning of the year, there were basically zero office jobs asking workers to get the vaccine. But even if workers are 100% remote, they'll have to come on-site at some point to meet with colleagues — and firms don't want to take risks. 

And even though the overall number of job postings requiring vaccination is still quite small — just about 1,200 per 1 million postings — they're increasing at a rapid clip. "This is incredible growth," says Indeed economist AnnElizabeth Konkel.

The share of software development jobs postings requiring vaccination has skyrocketed 12,400%, from a minuscule 3.5 per million to 438 per million.

Marketing jobs have seen an 11,100% jump to 1,110 per million, and sales a 4,100% increase to 374 per million.

Big companies that are now requiring proof of vaccination — at least to come into the office — include Google, Facebook, Netflix, Disney, Morgan Stanley, Lyft and The Washington Post.

Even jobs that already tended to require vaccination — like those in education, retail and hospitality — are doing so at even higher rates.

The bottom line: This is yet another example of companies acting like governments. 

Even if cities, states or the federal government choose not to mandate vaccination, firms can throw their weight around and effectively set policy by requiring it for their employees or customers — or both.

Vaccine mandates sweep Corporate America

It's not just front line jobs. Tech and sales job postings want workers to get the shot, too.

Illustration of a briefcase with a vaccination record card in it.

COVID-19 vaccines

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The U.S. health system faces critical questions about cost, access and equity. Technological advances and new discoveries about diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s are transforming patient care and reshaping public health.

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Amtrak told its employees Wednesday that they must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1 or agree to submit to weekly testing, Axios has confirmed.

State of play: Starting on Oct. 4, new hires will need to show proof of vaccination before their first day of employment. Employees will not be required to return to in-person work until Nov. 1.

The company said it has restored pay protections for fully vaccinated employees who need to quarantine after testing positive for coronavirus. Unvaccinated employees who test positive will need to quarantine, but will not be offered pay protections.

What they're saying: "We did not come to these decisions lightly, and we understand it may take some time to process, which is why we are providing you with time to prepare," Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn told employees.

Flynn noted that "many employees" are doubtful about getting vaccinated, saying, "We understand these concerns and encourage everyone to consult with a medical professional and seek out facts from reputable sources."

Go deeper: More corporations are requiring workers to get vaccinated

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details. 

Amtrak will require COVID vaccines or weekly testing for employees

All employees will be required to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1 or agree to submit to weekly testing.

trains

Federal Reserve officials say Friday’s blockbuster jobs report supports the case for tapering supportive monetary policy relatively soon.

Why it matters: With the economy progressing, everyone wants to know when the Fed will taper its quantitative easing program and eventually start hiking interest rates.

What they’re saying: Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic told reporters on Monday that the jobs report was "definitely quite encouraging."

He said he thinks the Fed could begin tapering QE sometime in the "October-to-December range," but added he would be "open to moving it forward" depending on the strength of upcoming jobs data.

At another event, Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin said there was "still more room to run in the labor market."

But Barkin, as well as Bostic, believes that inflation is at a level that meets the requirement for tapering QE.

Bostic and Barkin are both voting members of the Fed’s FOMC policy-setting committee.

Meanwhile, Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren — who is not a voting member of the FOMC — took on a slightly more hawkish tone, telling the Associated Press that the economic data already supports the Fed announcing in September that it would start tapering QE "sometime this fall."

What to watch: The August jobs report will be released on Sept. 3. Another robust report could tilt more FOMC members toward announcing the taper sooner. But it remains to be seen how the spike in COVID cases is affecting hiring.

The bottom line: The economy has indeed made a ton of progress on the labor market front, and the inflation data has been trending above the Fed’s 2% average target. Whether it’s in September, October, November or a little later, most seem to agree that the trajectory of the economy supports a tapering announcement in the next few months.

Fed watch: July jobs report means talking about tapering sooner

Everyone wants to know when the Fed will taper its quantitative easing program and start hiking interest rates.

Picture of Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic

Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic; Photo: Elijah Nouvelage, Bloomberg via Getty Images

Federal Reserve

Demand for labor seems to be getting stronger, and workers are taking advantage by quitting.

Why it matters: Businesses are scrambling to fill job openings as they try to catch up with booming demand.

Many companies are aggressively raising wages to recruit, which has resulted in workers quitting their old jobs for better opportunities.

By the numbers: 3.87 million workers quit their jobs in June, according to the BLS’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. This is close to the record, set in April, of 3.99 million.

This represents 2.7% of the workforce in June, which is also just below April’s record rate of 2.8%.

Quits as a percentage of total separations — which includes layoffs, firings and retirements — reached 69.3% in June. This measure, also known as the “take this job and shove it” indicator is at an all-time high.

What they’re saying: "People tend to leave their jobs when they find a better opportunity, and we think part of the high quits rate reflects the massive suburbanization trend that started during the pandemic," DataTrek Research co-founder Jessica Rabe tells Axios.

Zoom out: Many of these folks are accounted for in the 6.72 million hirings that occurred during the month. 

But the fact that job openings still set a new record of 10.07 million during the period speaks to how strong the demand for labor continues to be.

For context, there were 9.48 million unemployed workers during the period. 

In other words, there were more job openings than unemployed workers, a dynamic that hasn't occurred since before the pandemic.

The bottom line: "Labor demand keeps getting stronger," Indeed Hiring Lab economic research director Nick Bunker writes.

"Job seekers, both jobless and employed, are taking advantage of this situation with job switching near historic levels and nominal wages growing quickly. The question now is by how much and how quickly will this situation fade."

Workers quit at historic clip

3.87 million workers quit their jobs in June, which is close to the record, set in April, of 3.99 million.

Labor

Graph showing the share of departing workers who quit.

Workers taking up gigs at bars, restaurants and hotels are a mainstay of the pandemic job market’s healing.

Why it matters: Since the industry shed the most workers when COVID-19 hit, it has the most room to recover.  

It’s also been a proxy for the state of America’s reopening — and the hurdles that come along with it, like worker shortages.

By the numbers: For yet another month, the sector delivered the bulk (+380,000) of job gains, with two-thirds of that hiring happening at restaurants and bars.

The big picture: Leisure and hospitality has added a whopping 2.1 million payrolls since the beginning of the year — a big chunk of the total 4 million the economy has gained since then.

The sector has 1.7 million fewer jobs than when the pandemic hit.

Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED; Chart: Axios Visuals

A big part of the comeback story: bosses raising pay like mad to lure the staff they need to meet reopening demand. 

Wages rose another 1.4% on a monthly basis for non-managers in the sector. (Compare that to the overall 0.4% gain for employees.)

What to watch: How much the sector remains at the pandemic’s mercy — with the presence of vaccines — as infections surge. 

“The risk is new mask mandates and other COVID restrictions weaken the pace of recovery as returning to the office stalls and caution starts to creep back in,” ING economist James Knightley says.

Leisure and hospitality continue to fuel job gains

But the sector's recovery remains at the pandemic’s mercy as Delta spreads across the U.S.

Photo of a sign that says "Join our team! Earn extra $$$"

A sign recruiting workers at a Perkins Restaurant last month. Photo: Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

San Francisco

Axios San Francisco

As the contagious Delta variant continues to reach across the United States, more and more companies are delaying plans to reopen offices.

By the numbers: A recent survey of 1,000 HR professionals by the Society for Human Resource Management and Lucid found that half of U.S. organizations are worried about Delta. Some corporate players have started mandating vaccines for employees in an attempt to combat the variant.

Between the lines, via Axios' Erica Pandey: All the botched return-to-work plans are telling us that the Delta variant could send us back into the thick of the pandemic.

Worth noting: Scott Gottlieb, former head of the FDA, told CNBC that October, rather than September, would be a more "prudent" time to bring employees back to the office.

Facebook has told its employees they don't need to return to offices until January 2022 after initially planning to reopen at about 50% capacity by September. Workers returning to U.S. offices will need to be vaccinated and wear masks.

Target, which had planned to roll out a hybrid back-to-office model in September, has told headquarters workers they can work from home for the rest of the year. The company is gradually reopening offices, which any HQ staff member can access starting Sept. 20, according to a spokesperson.

Apple has delayed its planned September return to the office by at least a month, according to Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal.

Google is now aiming to have most of its workforce back to its offices beginning Oct. 18 instead of its previous target date of Sept. 1.

Amazon has pushed its reopening date from September to January 2022. (For corporate employees, that is — warehouse workers basically never left.)

Twitter closed its San Francisco and New York offices only two weeks after the company reopened. The company has paused future office reopenings at the moment.

Lyft has pushed its office return date to February 2022.

BlackRock will now reopen in October rather than September.

Wells Fargo has postponed its back-to-office return to October, one month later than planned.

U.S. Bank will wait until later this fall to bring employees back to the office, delaying its initial plan to return in person after Labor Day.

WME, a Los Angeles-based talent management agency, closed down its office for at least a week, just after reopening on July 12 for the first time in more than a year.

Asana, a software company that originally planned in-person returns in September, has told employees that offices in San Francisco and New York will reopen no earlier than February 2022.

Editor's note: This story has been updated.

Facebook joins growing list of companies delaying plans to reopen offices

Many are postponing back-to-office returns amid the spread of Delta, and some are mandating vaccines.

Photo of the main entrance of the Facebook headquarters, with a large sign that shows the Facebook thumbs up emoji

Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

COVID-19

At This Hour With Kate Bolduan-11 24 32 Am - 11 28 20 Am-2021-08-06

President Biden trumpeted the strong July jobs report on Friday as evidence that his economic plans are working, but emphasized that more work still needs to be done to ensure the economy's full recovery as the Delta variant continues to spread.

Why it matters: The U.S. added 943,000 jobs in July, while the unemployment rate fell from 5.9% to a new pandemic-era low of 5.4%. But the jobs survey was taken in mid-July — meaning it doesn’t fully reflect possible effects from the recent surge in COVID-19 infections driven by the Delta variant.

Percentage of U.S. residents who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19

Driving the news: White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar announced Friday that half of the entire U.S. population is now fully vaccinated.

The seven-day average of newly vaccinated people is up 11% from last week and 44% over past two weeks, according to Shapar.

In an address from the White House on Friday, Biden explicitly tied together the economic recovery and the increased pace of vaccinations.

What they're saying: Biden highlighted the fact that his administration was the first to add 4 million jobs during its first six months, but insisted that his message was not one of celebration.

"This new Delta variant wave of COVID-19 will be very different ... And yes, cases are going to go up before they come back down. It's a pandemic of the unvaccinated. ... It's taking a needless toll on our country," Biden said.

"We have a lot of hard work left to be done, both to beat the Delta variant, and to continue our advance of economic recovery. We all know what it starts with," he continued.

"Today, about 400 people will die because of the Delta variant in this country. A tragedy. Because virtually all of these deaths were preventable if people had gotten vaccinated."

Biden touts huge jobs report as U.S. vaccination rate hits 50%

But he warned that the Delta variant could stall progress.

Joe Biden

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

Markets

Axios Markets

The U.S. economy added 943,000 jobs in July, while the unemployment rate fell from 5.9% to a new pandemic-era low of 5.4%.

Why it matters: It’s the biggest hiring spree in almost a year as the labor market makes strides to a full recovery.

Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Axios Visuals

Context: Economists expected the economy to add around 850,000 jobs, though estimates varied widely from as low as 350,000 to as high as 1.2 million.

The government’s jobs survey occurred in mid-July — and therefore doesn’t fully reflect possible effects from the recent surge in COVID-19 infections from the Delta variant. But it shows how quickly the U.S. employment picture can improve.

Next month's report will show whether Delta can derail that momentum. 

The U.S. economy added 943,000 jobs. Hiring hasn't been this furious since August 2020. 

The unemployment rate fell a half-point to a new post-pandemic low of 5.4%.

Total employment is now 5.7 million jobs below its pre-pandemic level, while unemployment is still quite far from the pre-pandemic rate of 3.5%.

Zoom in: Pay continued to jump, with wages rising 4% from this time last year.

The leisure and hospitality sector continued to recover. Its 380,000 new jobs accounted for the biggest bulk of job gains — despite concerns about labor shortages.

🥊 In a nutshell: "I've never before seen such a wonderful set of economic data," tweeted Jason Furman, who served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama. 

U.S. unemployment rate hits new pandemic-era low

It’s the biggest hiring spree in months.

Photo: Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Small businesses aren’t happy with who’s applying for their open jobs.

Driving the news: According to the NFIB’s July Small Business Jobs Report, "labor quality" is the top overall biggest concern, with 26% of survey respondents identifying it as their "single most important problem."

Why it matters: Companies everywhere are struggling to find workers to fill open positions. And despite many employers raising wages to attract talent, these hiring issues persist.

Go deeper: Of those surveyed, 63% said they were currently hiring or trying to hire. Of this group, 89% said there were few or no "qualified job applicants."

Meanwhile, a record high net 39% said they increased pay. And a net 26% said they planned to increase pay within the next month.

A modest 8% citied "labor cost" as their top problem.

Between the lines: You might think that if labor cost isn’t a top problem, then the solution is for employers to raise pay endlessly until those qualified applicants come. 

But as ADP chief economist Nela Richardson recently explained to Axios, raising pay for new applicants often means having to raise pay for existing employees, which is costly. 

Also, raising pay now gives employers less flexibility down the road as employers would rather avoid having to cut pay down the road.

What to watch: The July U.S. employment report comes out today and will provide the latest update on what industries are hiring and how much employers are having to raise wages to fill those roles.

Small businesses seek better applicants

"Labor quality" is the top overall concern of small businesses, according to the NFIB’s July Small Business Jobs Report.

Small businesses

Chart showing single most important problem for small businesses.

Note: Foreign-born describes adults born outside the U.S., where neither parent is a U.S. citizen, and includes legally-admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents and undocumented immigrants; Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Axios Visuals

The share of foreign-born workers in the U.S. labor force reached a record high last year, per new data from the Labor Department.

Why it matters: With more Americans aging out of the workforce than entering into it — and at a time of labor shortages — immigrants are playing an increasingly crucial role in the labor market.

State of play: The share of foreign-born people in the workforce has been steadily rising for decades, but dipped during the pandemic — making last year's uptick look a bit more striking than it is, said Abraham Mosisa, a senior economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Still, this is a trend that isn't going anywhere. The U.S. labor force participation rate of native born men has been consistently decreasing, he pointed out. And the rate for women has stagnated.

The number of foreign-born workers in the U.S. increased to 29.8 million in 2022, from 27.9 million the previous year — a jump of about 6%. 

The number of native-born workers went from 133.2 million to 134.5 million — up barely 1%.

One key factor is that a bigger share of the immigrant population is of working age (18-64), at 77%, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute (MPI). That compares with about 59% of the native-born population.

Meanwhile: The relative size of the immigrant population has stayed flat over the past two decades — comprising 13.6% of the total U.S. population in 2021, according to the most recently available data from MPI — just below where it was before the pandemic.

Zoom in: Foreign-born workers tend to take different jobs than the native-born (see the chart below), and they typically earn less money.

In 2022, median weekly earnings for foreign-born full-time workers was  $945, or 87% of their native-born counterparts.

Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Rahul Mukherjee/Axios

Worth noting: Immigration opponents might see the record number of foreign-born workers and argue that foreign born workers are somehow stealing jobs from Americans — but that's not what's happening. 

Although was a big increase in net immigration in 2022 — essentially catching up from the COVID slump — there were plenty of jobs to go around. 

At times last year there were actually two jobs available for every job-seeker. And this year, the unemployment rate has continued to hover around a record low.

Zoom out: As wealthier nations contend with shrinking workforces, many are crafting new immigration policies to find more workers — and combat inflation, as the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month.

Policies that encourage immigration "will determine the extent and persistence of labor supply challenges," as a note from Moody's Investors Service pointed out a few weeks ago.

Immigration law in the U.S., meanwhile, remains a contentious and fairly intractable political issue.

What they're saying: "If you want a growing workforce, without immigration, that isn't going to happen," said Phillip Connor, a senior demographer at FWD.US, an immigration advocacy group.  

Immigrant workforce reaches a new high

With labor still in short supply, foreign-born workers are crucial for the economy.

Immigration

Illustration of a person with a backpack facing a background of two different colors and various arrows

Data: Misty Heggeness using Current Population Survey (CPS), U.S. Census Bureau/Bureau of Labor Statistics via ipums.org; Chart: Axios Visuals

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