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Vacation rarely feels like vacation if there's extra work to do before and after to make up for the time taken off. That's why startups and Fortune 500 firms alike are rethinking the structure of paid time off, extending company-wide vacations.

Why it matters: The pandemic exacerbated burnout at work, and that's a major contributor to "the great resignation," in which upward of 40% of workers are actively considering leaving their jobs.

What's happening: A growing number of firms are giving employees the same day or week off — separate from allotted personal vacation time — and finding that it's a lot easier for workers to unplug if their managers and peers are doing it at the same time.

LinkedIn gave its entire staff a week off in April, and the dating app Bumble did the same in June.

The social media management platform Hootsuite has a company-wide week off scheduled for July. The firm made sure to announce it a couple of months in advance so employees could plan for it and let clients know, says Tara Ataya, Hootsuite's chief people and diversity officer.

Pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb gave its employees two "days of rest" this year, during which everyone, across the world, was off.

The big picture: With surveys indicating that life satisfaction has fallen for workers during the pandemic, firms have tried several policies to combat burnout, such as making time off mandatory or giving workers unlimited vacation days or mental health days. But no approach works quite as well as company-wide time off, experts say.

When workers select their own vacation days, they'll still get emails and Slack messages unless they ditch their devices, says Lars Schmidt, founder of the human resources consulting firm Amplify. And that's not a realistic expectation in today's digital world. "The idea of synchronizing time off is that you’re 'off off,'" he says.

"Over the last 18 months, we’ve been living in this digital world with pings and emails, and it all puts a strain on us," Ataya says. "There is something special about all unplugging at the same time."

But, but, but: Telling everyone to go home for the week is not possible for all types of workplaces.

Think about 24-hour drugstores or newsrooms or e-commerce warehouses where work responsibilities exist 24/7 — even on weekends and during holidays.

One solution is for companies to give entire teams synchronized time off, so even if the whole firm is not on vacation, at least workers and their managers are off at the same time. But even that isn't possible for places like hospitals where the work can't stop.

The bottom line: America's burnout crisis bubbled up during the pandemic — and workplaces need to get creative to address it. In our perpetually online and connected world, just doling out vacation days is no longer enough.

Company-wide vacations could be the future of paid time off

It's a lot easier for workers to unplug if their managers and peers are doing the same.

Illustration of an office water cooler with a beach ball inside

Occupational burnout

Jobs

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.

Economy & Business

Data: U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey; Chart: Axios Visuals

COVID-19 fears are receding in the U.S., and this trend will have more and more Americans returning to work.

Why it matters: A slew of factors have kept Americans on the sidelines despite robust demand for workers, leading to labor shortages and inflation in some categories.

By the numbers: Since June 2020, the Census’ Household Pulse Survey has been keeping a tally of those not working because they were "concerned about getting or spreading the coronavirus."

This number peaked at 6.24 million in early July 2020 but has been trending lower ever since. As of June 21, 2021, it was sitting at 3.05 million.

For context, there were 7.6 million fewer Americans employed as of May than there were before the pandemic.

Many are quick to argue that the availability of enhanced unemployment insurance benefits is a major cause of labor shortages.

But, but, but: "There just isn't strong evidence to suggest that enhanced jobless benefits are a major drag on the jobs recovery," Oxford Economics’ Oren Klachkin tells Axios.

In a research note to clients, Klachkin observed "a tenuous relationship between changes in the number of people receiving supplemental jobless benefits and the number of people sending out resumes or filling out job applications."

Recent studies from the San Francisco Fed and Indeed Hiring Lab confirm as much.

"Health conditions are the most important factor for labor market healing," Klachkin

The big picture: "People are feeling safer about returning to work, which should help businesses staff-up to meet the tremendous demand we’re seeing right now," Wells Fargo senior economist Sarah House tells Axios.

Workers are overcoming COVID fears

"Health conditions are the most important factor for labor market healing."

Employment

Data: The Conference Board; Chart: Axios Visuals

Just because many Americans are out of work doesn’t mean they can't find a job.

Why it matters: Labor shortages continue to hold back economic growth as virus fears, child care issues and extra unemployment insurance benefits keep workers on the sidelines.

Reality check: Lots of Americans aren’t complaining.

A record 54.4% of consumers say jobs are "plentiful," according to a new Conference Board report.

Meanwhile, just 10.9% say jobs are "hard to get."

The difference between those two numbers, aka the labor market differential, is at a record 43.5%.

The big picture: "Significantly this indicates that people know the jobs market is strong thereby confirming that it is the lack of workers willing or able to fill demand, which is holding back jobs growth," ING economist James Knightley wrote.

Go deeper: Why almost no one is looking hard for a job

Most Americans say jobs are easy to find

Labor shortages continue to hold back economic growth.

Frantically trying to hire workers, fast-food franchises are offering aggressive incentives to get candidates in the door. 

Why it matters: Hourly workers are hard to find, just as people are starting to venture out to restaurants and take vacations that should include lots of fast food stops.

What's happening: Chains are offering higher salaries and other perks to compete for food service workers. 

Chipotle increased its average pay to $15 an hour, and is offering career advancement opportunities to manager positions with potential six-figure salaries. A window sign at a San Francisco Chipotle (spotted by Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva) touted $20.50 an hour.

Wendy's is offering $100 signing bonuses, referral bonuses and same-day pay.

Dunkin' Donuts has posted signs on its drive-through menus offering benefits such as healthcare, flexible schedules and paid time off. 

A McDonald's in Arlington, Va., touted $500 sign-on bonuses. At an Orlando Cuba Libre, candidates were offered $1,000 bonuses, with the option to be paid in bitcoin. 

Between the lines: The desperation for workers means many food-service outfits have to loosen their hiring standards and put up with sub-par workers longer to keep the lights on. 

What to watch: The high demand for food service workers this summer could provide a variety of opportunities for first-time workers who want to gain some experience — such as teenagers, who are having their best employment summer since 1953, per CBS.

Fast-food hiring frenzy

High wages and instant bonuses are part an effort to staff up as the pandemic winds down

Illustration of a fast food sign with a dollar sign on top that reads "money!"

There are around 10 million unemployed Americans and over 9 million open positions. But most people aren't urgently seeking out those jobs.

The big picture: For the first time in decades, workers have the power to be choosy.

By the numbers: Only about 10% of job seekers say they're actively and urgently looking for work, according to a new survey from the jobs site Indeed. Around 45% are passively looking for jobs, and another 30% plan to get a job in the near future but aren't looking at all right now.

What's happening: Most of the open jobs are in low-wage areas like the service industry, which is bouncing back after the pandemic but struggling to find workers.

"These jobs are not very good," says Steven Fazzari, an economist at the Washington University in St. Louis. "They’re hard work, and they don’t pay very well."

For low-wage workers, pandemic-era expanded unemployment insurance has provided some temporary bargaining power. "They might be able to pay the rent or pay the utility bill without that job" and hold out for better pay or benefits, Fazzari says.

Workers without college degrees — who also tend to be in lower-wage jobs — cite several different reasons for delaying the job search, per Indeed's data.

Around 25% are afraid of COVID-19 and are waiting for vaccination rates to climb before getting back to work.

More than 20% say they have a financial cushion and around 12% say their unemployment insurance is the reason they're not rushing to get a job.

Childcare is also a major factor. 20% of lower-wage workers are staying home due to care responsibilities.

What to watch: This moment could be a turning point for American workers. Demand for labor is sky high, so lots of firms are offering higher wages or perks to attract talent. 

But, but, but: While workers may have the edge right now, "I'm really skeptical that what we're seeing is the start of a new era of worker bargaining power," Indeed economist Nick Bunker says.

The wage hikes and benefits could start to disappear in the fall as many of the circumstances allowing or pushing lower-wage workers to delay the job hunt change, he says.

Many states have already ended pandemic unemployment insurance, and others will do so in the coming months. An analysis from the firm Jeffries reported by the Wall Street Journal shows that states that have ended UI have lower rates of unemployment than those that have not.

And schools are set to fully reopen, sending parents back to work.

Why almost no one is looking hard for a job

Increased bargaining power means many workers can afford to wait and see, but it may not last

Close-up of briefcases in a vending machine.

Unemployment

It's not just the extra $300. A subset of workers around the country is getting shut out of the unemployment system altogether.

Driving the news: Of the 26 states cutting topped-up benefits, all but four are ending (or have already ended) the program that allowed self-employed, gig and freelance workers to collect jobless aid.

Why it matters: It's part of a grand experiment underway in states across the country: preemptively shutting off pandemic-era programs in an effort to coax people back to work as businesses say they can't find staff.

"They were promised benefits until September. Months later, states are saying 'nope, just kidding.' That's what's truly unprecedented," says The Century Foundation's Andrew Stettner.

Flashback: Typically, contractors or others with limited work history are ineligible for unemployment. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), created in the first stimulus package, changed that.

Nearly 6 million are collecting unemployment through this program, according to government data — though that's likely overstated.

What they're saying: "We have full industries that are coming back slowly, like entertainment," which employs people currently relying on the program, says Stephanie Freed, who helped create ExtendPUA.org, an advocacy group.

Uber and Lyft — whose workers leaned on PUA — say they are facing a driver shortage as demand soars back.

What's happening: The early cutoff of the program so far impacts at least 2 million Americans, according to estimates by Stettner.

That includes workers in a program that offers benefits for those who have exhausted traditional state benefits (also ending in 22 states).

The big picture: "Some people are losing some money and others are losing all money," in states cutting unemployment benefits, says Kathryn Edwards, an economist at RAND.

"It's not a consistent strategy, which made me think there's no clear target — it's just 'let's cut unemployment benefits, somehow.'"

Unemployment lifeline disappears

Nearly two dozen states are ending the program that allowed self-employed, gig and freelance workers to collect jobless aid.

A hand pulling away a dollar bill with a miniature man clinging to the bottom

CLEARWATER, Florida — A co-working space called The Ring is taking the healthy workplace concept up a notch. 

Why it matters: As people return to work after the pandemic, some office spaces are betting that workers would prefer to spend their days in health-conscious spaces.

What they're saying: "Our goal is to be the world's healthiest co-working space," says Christopher Murphy, community manager at The Ring, which occupies two floors of an 11-floor building in downtown Clearwater. 

The co-working space is aiming to get a WELL Certification, a relatively new standard that certifies buildings for prioritizing occupants' well-being through core areas such as air, water, light, nourishment and fitness. 

Details: Conference rooms and elevator banks all have plants — living or preserved moss and hanging ferns — to filter the air. Murray claims the air quality is higher than what you'd find in most hospitals.

To keep the air fresh in individual offices, occupants must use trash cans and printers in common areas. A specialized ventilation system immediately whisks away the air in the communal "printing room" when a print job is done, removing harmful chemicals from the air.

Rooms are equipped with special lighting designed to reinforce occupants' circadian rhythms. Natural light pours in through large windows. Cork walls absorb excess sound. 

Aromatherapy is optional, and a napping pod is a popular feature. 

How it works: Think of the WELL Certification as an extension of the LEED Certification for environmentally sustainable buildings.

While LEED is a set of standards supporting the buildings and spaces within them, WELL is a set of standards supporting the overall health and well-being of the people who use the spaces. 

Although the two sets of standards were developed by different organizations, credentials for both programs are governed by the Green Building Certification Inc. 

The big picture: Focusing on employees' health is not new, but COVID-19 has placed more emphasis on it.

This is especially true as companies reevaluate the type and size of office spaces they'll need in a hybrid-work structure, said Cynthia Townsend, one of the few registered interior designers who has a WELL accreditation in the Tampa Bay area.

"Organizations see a return on their investments through increased employee engagement and productivity," said Townsend, who is not affiliated with The Ring.

Bottom line: To convince white-collar workers to choose an office over their home, companies will need to entice them with increased wellness amenities in whatever spaces workers will gather. 

While the improvements, like a brand new ventilation system, can be pricey, designers say it can pay dividends in giving workers one more reason to be in a collaborative environment with colleagues.

Co-working spaces prioritize "wellness" as well as WiFi

As employers try to lure workers out of their homes, working spaces designed around well-being could be key

Conference table made of a fallen tree and a wall covered with preserved moss 

A conference table at The Ring in Clearwater, Florida.  Photo: Kim Hart / Axios

States with significant employment changes

The challenge of finding qualified workers to fill open jobs is illustrated by the fact that just over a quarter of states saw employment increase in May.

Why it matters: The closely watched national employment report released on June 4 — which showed U.S. employers added 559,000 jobs in May — does not capture how uneven the labor market recovery has been.

By the numbers: According to new data dropped by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday, just 14 states reported a statistically significant increase in jobs during the period.

Wyoming was the only state to shed jobs in May.

Be smart: A lack of job creation would be much worse if it were the result of a lack of demand for workers. But all signs suggest demand is strong and it’s the supply of labor that’s lagging.

Employment increased in just 14 states in May

The national employment report doesn't capture how uneven the labor market recovery has been.

Staggering stat: 53% of Americans would switch to a role in an entirely new industry if they had to opportunity to retrain, according to Prudential's latest Pulse of the American Worker Survey.

Why it matters: We've told you about the "great resignation" — how upwards of 40% of U.S. workers may quit their jobs post-pandemic. That reshuffling in the labor market could be even more dramatic than companies are expecting because nearly half of workers want to jump fields, not just jobs.

What's happening: The pandemic has caused a crisis of burnout and pushed millions of people to reconsider what fulfills them at work.

Of the workers that want to switch jobs or fields, 50% say they are looking for higher compensation, 34% want more growth opportunities and 24% are tired of working on the same things, per the survey.

But, but, but: The U.S. is not prepared to retrain workers at scale, experts say. 

And without training programs giving workers the technical skills — like coding or accounting — they need to switch jobs, "you're going to find a real gap between what employers are looking for and what employees have," says Rob Falzon, vice chair of Prudential Financial.

The big picture: Retraining America's workforce was always going to become a national challenge as tech created new jobs and made old ones obsolete.

"But the need has become much more acute," says Falzon. "The AI thing was always in the next five years. What happened with the pandemic is that the five years forward got accelerated to today."

The age of the career-jumpers

The reshuffling in the labor market could be even more dramatic than companies are expecting.

Illustration of a service worker holding a tray with a question mark

Axios Future

Change in college enrollment by sector

Data: National Student Clearinghouse Research Center; Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios

The pandemic's effects, along with a decline in the number of young adults, have depressed college enrollment, with community colleges bearing much of the brunt. 

Why it matters: A college degree is becoming more important as the demand for higher skills sharpens. The drop in college enrollment — which is especially steep for Black and Latino students — is bad news for both the higher education industry and broader social mobility.

By the numbers: Undergraduate college enrollment overall fell by nearly 5% in the spring of 2021 compared to the year before, according to data recently published by the National Student Clearinghouse. 

Details: Two-year community colleges, which typically enroll more low-income students and students of color, were by far the hardest hit, making up more than 65% of the total enrollment losses this spring. (For-profit private universities had a much steeper drop, but enroll far fewer students overall.)

Community college enrollment dropped by 9.5% this spring, with a loss of 476,000 students.

Latino enrollment in community colleges overall — which had been increasing before the pandemic — fell by 13.7% this spring, with enrollment of Latino men and Black men falling 19.4% and 21.5% respectively. 

The eroding of community colleges, which serve as a less expensive springboard to the middle class, will "likely be felt for generations," Mamie Voight, the interim president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, told Inside Higher Ed.

Between the lines: While the effects of the pandemic are the main cause of the drop, college enrollment had been trending downward since 2012.

Changing demographic patterns that mean fewer college-age adults is a major factor, and one that is set to worsen in the years ahead, which could pose an existential threat to smaller colleges struggling for students.

Until the pandemic, a gradually strengthening economy was another factor — students are more likely to forego or postpone college when the job market is strong.

But that also makes the sharp decline in 2020-21 so stark. Higher education usually serves as a refuge during high periods of unemployment, but the opposite happened during the pandemic.

What they're saying: Many of the students who would have gone to community colleges come from low-income and minority backgrounds that were especially hard hit by the pandemic, depriving them of the resources and help they needed, says Mikyung Ryu, director of research publications at the National Student Clearinghouse.

"If these students do not go to college right after high school or relatively soon after, it's increasingly becoming harder for them to go at all," she adds. 

The other side: Even as undergraduate enrollment fell, graduate education is on the rise, with enrollment in master's and doctoral programs rising 5.2% and 3.6% respectively.  

Like other areas of the economy, higher education is taking on a K-shape, with the haves getting more and the have-nots at risk of being left behind.

"There is a growing divide between undergraduate-level education and graduate level," says Ryu. "And community colleges are by far the worst-hit sector."

What to watch: Rising vaccination rates and changes to the application process — like the growth of standardized test-optional admissions policies — could lead to a bounce back in the fall. 

The bottom line: With the job market suddenly surging, the lack of a college degree may seem to matter less at the moment. 

But a college degree of any kind remain one of the best protections against unemployment, and those who miss out now could end up in what Ryu calls the "lost opportunity generation."

The swoon in college enrollment

Experts fear low-income students who miss out could become a "lost opportunity generaiton"

College

The next U.S. jobs report could be a big market-moving event.

Why it matters: The Fed wants to know if the U.S. labor market has made “substantial further progress,” the vague threshold that would give the FOMC the confidence to dial back some of its emergency bond purchase program.

By the numbers: According to FactSet, economists estimate U.S. employers added 756,500 jobs in August, which would be a slowdown from the 943,000 added in July.

The unemployment rate is estimated to have fallen to 5.2% in August from 5.4% the month prior.

What they’re saying: “The softening in employment activity would be consistent with other economic data that have weakened since the surge in COVID case counts due to the Delta variant,” Bank of America U.S. economist Joseph Song says.

“Related to that,” Wells Fargo economists write, “the FOMC is likely to again consider deteriorating public health conditions as a detriment to ‘substantial further progress,’ which removes some heft from the August employment report when it comes to determining the timing of potential tapering.”

In other words, assuming job growth did decelerate significantly in August, then the FOMC may wait until after its Sept. 22 meeting to announce the timing of tapering.

What to watch: The August U.S. jobs report will be released at 8:30am ET on Friday.

Go deeper: The harm the Fed wants to avoid by tapering too early

What economists expect from the August jobs report

The Fed wants to know if the U.S. labor market has made “substantial further progress.”

A man walks by a "Now Hiring" sign outside a store in Arlington, Va.

A man walks by a "Now Hiring" sign outside a store in Arlington, Va. Photo: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Jobs report

A survey of C-suite executives found more than a quarter are considering moving their operations to another state or country.

Why it matters: The forced march to remote work during the pandemic has shaken loose the bonds that tie large businesses to their home territory — and that could be bad news for high-cost cities and states.

By the numbers: In a poll of 150 C-suite executives released today and conducted by the consulting firm West Monroe, 29% of companies reported they were considering moving major operations or headquarters to another state or country.

The biggest reason was the cost of talent and living in their current location, followed by the burden of taxes.

Not surprisingly, the No. 1 destination under consideration was Texas, followed by Florida — two states with generally low costs of living and low tax burdens.  

Of note: West Monroe's chief strategy officer Tom Bolger tells Axios the West Coast "had by far more companies looking to relocate than any other geographical area in the survey."

That dovetails with recent reporting about tech companies and founders looking to relocate out of the Bay Area, which has some of the highest housing prices in the country.   

That includes Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who said in December that he was moving from California to Texas. 

Be smart: Companies complaining about the high cost of living and working in states like California or New York is hardly new, but the embrace of remote work — accelerated by the pandemic — has given workers and CEOs more options.

Nearly half of the executives polled by West Monroe said they had plans to split their workforces between remote and onsite, though only 1% said they would go fully remote.

"If I'm paying major city taxes in a place like New York City and it doesn't really matter for me if I'm in New York, why not go somewhere that's less expensive?"

The bottom line: Mayors of high-cost cities may need to fight to keep their businesses.

New survey shows companies are open to moving to cheaper locales

Remote work — accelerated by the pandemic — has made it easier for companies to seek out less expensive regions

The Phoenix office tower in Houston, Texas. The Lone Star State was the top stated destination for executives considering moving their operations. Photo: Loren Elliott/Getty Images

Future

Remote work

Business

Big Tech

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

A shock to the job market as massive and as sustained as the coronavirus will leave lasting change — and damage — in its wake.

The big picture: We jumped from the best labor market in 60 years, before the coronavirus, to the worst, in April. As the country comes back, millions of jobs lost during the pandemic will never come back, and there will be massive reallocations of jobs from some parts of the economy to others.

"This is the biggest thing since the Great Depression. It's absolutely enormous and incredibly fast," says Nicholas Bloom, an economist at Stanford.

What's happening: Even as states start opening up, new job postings in the U.S. are still down nearly 30% compared with February, according to an analysis by research firm Gartner.

But a closer look at which sectors of the economy are hiring tells us more about how the pandemic might alter the job market.

There's been a surge in postings for grocery and delivery workers. Amazon, Walmart and Instacart alone have hired around 700,000 people since the pandemic began.

Look for similar surges in cleaning, sanitation and construction in the coming weeks and months, Bloom says. Public spaces will need to hire cleaning crews and construction companies to keep spaces sanitized and add barriers or other distance-enforcing features.

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