The Washington Post calls it a “worker friendly environment.” Indeed. The Department of Labor reported that 4.5 million Americans either quit or changed jobs in November. That’s a record.

Employers in many industries have been complaining about labor shortages for nearly a year now, which has caused a scramble by many to raise wages or offer generous signing bonuses. Staffing issues have coursed through the worlds of tourism and hospitality, with hotels, restaurants and bars reporting trouble finding workers, as well as employers in trucking, construction, transportation and other industries.

The Washington Post

Breaking News: More than 4.5 million people in the U.S. quit their jobs in November, the most in two decades of tracking, as openings remained near a record. https://t.co/ZeAAVPxJiW

— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 4, 2022

The 4.5 million was up from 4.2 million in October. The New York Times adds it was the most in two decades that the government has been keeping track:

The rate of quitting has been especially high in hospitality and other low-wage sectors, where workers have been taking advantage of strong demand to look for jobs with better pay or working conditions.

There were 10.6 million job openings posted on the last day of November. That was down from 11.1 million in October, but still more than in any month before the pandemic began — and far more than the roughly seven million Americans looking for work.

The New York Times

One caveat—these numbers predate the Omicron variant explosion across the U.S.

What does the high resignation rate mean for workers? More money.

“Lots of quits means stronger worker bargaining power which will likely feed into strong wage gains. Wage growth was very strong in 2021, and … we might see more of the same in 2022.‘‘

Nick Bunker, research director at the Indeed Hiring Lab Via AP