20-01-2022, 09:52 AM
20 Jan 2022 03:56AM
(Updated: 20 Jan 2022 03:57AM)
WASHINGTON: An exodus of older workers is the "common thread" behind the baffling labor shortages faced by companies in the United States and Britain, the IMF concluded in a report released on Wednesday (Jan 19).
The "mismatch" between job openings and workers' willingness to do those jobs, especially low-paying positions, also plays a role, but pandemic aid payments were not a big factor keeping workers away
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However its report said the issue of women sitting on the sidelines due to difficulties with childcare and schooling amid the COVID-19 pandemic was a problem specific to the United States alone.
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"The fall in female participation is unique to the US, but quantitatively important," they said, noting that as of October 2021, the absence of mothers of children under five years old "accounted for around 16 per cent of the total US employment gap with respect to pre-Covid levels."
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In the United States, the exodus and early retirements of workers 55 and older combined with the "she-cession" of female workers, "may account for roughly 70 per cent of the US employment gap compared with pre-Covid levels," the authors said.
In the UK, the absence of older workers accounts for 35 per cent of the shortage.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business...mf-2446291
(Updated: 20 Jan 2022 03:57AM)
WASHINGTON: An exodus of older workers is the "common thread" behind the baffling labor shortages faced by companies in the United States and Britain, the IMF concluded in a report released on Wednesday (Jan 19).
The "mismatch" between job openings and workers' willingness to do those jobs, especially low-paying positions, also plays a role, but pandemic aid payments were not a big factor keeping workers away
......
However its report said the issue of women sitting on the sidelines due to difficulties with childcare and schooling amid the COVID-19 pandemic was a problem specific to the United States alone.
......
"The fall in female participation is unique to the US, but quantitatively important," they said, noting that as of October 2021, the absence of mothers of children under five years old "accounted for around 16 per cent of the total US employment gap with respect to pre-Covid levels."
......
In the United States, the exodus and early retirements of workers 55 and older combined with the "she-cession" of female workers, "may account for roughly 70 per cent of the US employment gap compared with pre-Covid levels," the authors said.
In the UK, the absence of older workers accounts for 35 per cent of the shortage.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business...mf-2446291