COVID-19 and the workplace: how the pandemic has changed employment

This article was written for our sponsor, the ncIMPACT Initiative at the UNC School of Government.  

With businesses trying to overcome the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic and workers dealing with its physical and mental effects, the landscape of the workplace has changed.

North Carolinians feel especially burdened by changes in the job market associated with the pandemic, according to survey results from Carolina Across 100, an initiative of the University of North Carolina focused on researching and collaborating to address community challenges. That comes as no surprise. In a little over a year, many workplaces in the country swung from fretting about layoffs to fixating on "help wanted" signs.

Carolina Across 100 is the vision of the university's Chancellor Kevin Guskewiecz and is advised by the Carolina Engagement Council, a cross-campus group. The CEC has determined the initiative will focus its first program of work on this important issue.

Interested communities can find more information here.

"There are two important trends that, together, make this current labor market situation distinct," said Nichola Lowe, University of North Carolina professor of city and regional planning. "First, a large number of job openings remain unfilled, which admittedly is not that unique on its own — we have experienced this before. But that trend, combined with the second data point, makes this pandemic economy notable. There is a historically high level of voluntary separations, meaning workers are quitting jobs in large numbers."

In fact, North Carolina's labor force participation rate is significantly lower than pre-pandemic rates, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Now, some workers are aiming to improve their careers.

"This represents a labor market turning point, which some economists are calling the Great Resignation to reflect its historical significance," said Lowe. "Workers are becoming choosier about the kinds of jobs they are willing to accept or stay in. They are either able to secure better alternatives or they feel confident that those alternatives will soon emerge, so they are holding out." 

Many are feeling significant burnout, not only from their jobs but from the many stresses they've had to face in their personal lives. In fact, the Carolina Across 100 survey shows that staff burnout is the issue that most concerns respondents when they consider the long-term impacts of COVID on their organizations. 

"In general, people have dealt with a lot of mental and physical stress around the pandemic, and I think people are coming to work with a lot of stress from outside of work, whether that be people in their family being sick or having to deal with children being out of school or schedules being disrupted," said Sara Chester, co-executive director at The Industrial Commons, a workforce-focused nonprofit organization based in Morganton.

Additionally, businesses that closed need a way to reopen, and some workers will need retraining. But finding workers for jobs that may have lost some appeal is presenting a challenge.

"It is true that many American-based businesses are now struggling because some of their workers finally have some wiggle room, whether that is because they have a few extra weeks of modest savings to fall back on or whether they now feel emboldened to say no to poor working conditions and thus explore better alternatives," said Lowe.

Other former employees may even be starting their own businesses.

In response to the challenge, some businesses are attracting workers by rethinking employee needs.

"A lot of companies that are short-staffed right now are increasing pay and offering sign-on bonuses or offering bonuses to employees who refer another worker," said Chester. "Some of that seems to work, but for a lot of people, it's not quite enough. The companies that we work with where we've seen people be most successful have just been as flexible as possible."

Some people have learned that they do not need to work fixed hours in a fixed location in order to be productive. After having that flexibility, they want that to continue.

The pandemic has also caused issues to come to the forefront that may have been hidden in plain sight. Many Carolina Across 100 survey respondents raised concerns about mental health. Additionally, more than 50 percent of survey respondents stated that mental health has gotten worse since the pandemic.

"A lot of those stressors that are occurring in people's lives outside of work are making it very hard for them to be successful at work," said Chester. "So, one thing we've found to be helpful is offering a counseling service for people to talk to. It's really important right now that people do have that as an option, and they're prioritizing their mental health."

Surviving the pandemic may come down to whether a business can adapt.

While the loss of businesses and a shrinking workforce were major concerns that surfaced in the Carolina Across 100 survey findings, some respondents identified this as a moment of opportunity. One survey respondent noted that some businesses have adapted their strategies to improve and reinvent themselves in an effort to survive.

"The companies that use this moment to embrace the future of work are really the ones that are going to be successful over the next generation," said Chester. "The companies that try to just go back to the way things were before COVID are probably not going to be as successful. I hope companies use this moment to rethink the way that we're doing things."

This article was written for our sponsor, the ncIMPACT Initiative at the UNC School of Government.