Department of Labor

The Great Resignation continues, with a new study revealing that employees in many industries are quitting at higher rates than 2021. Accommodation and food services lost 5.8 percent of its workforce — 773,600 workers — in 2022, an increase of about 128,000 over the same period in 2021. Retail lost 3.82 percent, or about 600,000 workers, though this is 109,000 fewer than the same period in 2021. In third is the entertainment sector at 3.58 percent, accounting for 82,200 jobs, rising 7,000 compared to 2021. These industries happen to be where employees are in closest contact with customers — which would probably cause Cockburn to quit too, given how rude folks can be. Manufacturing and mining, by contrast, saw 2.42 and 2.3 percent respectively.

The Biden administration’s Department of Labor recently released a new interpretive rule regarding whether workers are classified as employees or independent contractors. The action reverses a Trump-era rule that simplified the classification process, and was dedicated to preserving the gig economy. Employees are much more expensive than independent contractors — possibly by as much as 30 percent. This is, in part, because independent contractors are not subject to federal minimum wage or overtime regulations, among others, and are not protected by the National Labor Relations Act, meaning it is more difficult for them to unionize. This all may seem rather trivial, but the impact on both the consumer and the worker will be significant.