The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Getting Back to Normal-ish - America's Great Resignation

Episode Date: January 14, 2022

As businesses reopen, a record-breaking number of people are quitting their jobs, and employers adapt to new attitudes about work in the COVID-19 era. Originally aired October 2021. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Quitting your job is a right of passage for everyone. Whether you're turning in your two weeks notice because you're going to college, or turning in your two seconds notice before they find all the printer cartridges you've stuffed into your pants. And America just set a new record for how many people are calling it quits. It's being called the Great Resignation. A record number of Americans are telling their bosses, I quit. According to a new Labor Department report, 4.3 million people quit in August. That's the highest number of people quitting on record dating back to more than 20 years.

And that's up from 4 million who walked away from jobs in June. Leading the quitters, restaurant, hotel and retail employees. 892,000 workers in food and accommodations quit in the month. 721,000 employees in retail. Workers in state and local government education also quit by the thousands. There are more jobs available now than ever before in US history. Many businesses are suffering from a major shortage of workers. With a 10.4 million jobs open, employers are scrambling to find help. That's right.

More people than ever before are quitting their jobs. Restaurant workers are quitting. Teachers are quitting. Katie Couric quit being a journalist. And some of the numbers are crazy. 700,000 people quit retail jobs, which explains why the T.J. Max I went to yesterday looked like it was hit by a tornado. What? It always looks that way? No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the TJ Max I went to yesterday looked like it was hit by a tornado. What?

Oh, it always looks that way? No, the shoes were on the roof. So many workers have left. Pretty soon, every business is just going to be self-service. Like, you realize you're going to have to make your own food at a restaurant, or you're going to have to give yourself a true even worse, at strip clubs, you're going to be dancing for yourself in the mirror. Oh yeah, I like that, don't I? I'm going to give me all my money.

Man, the strippers in this club are really sad. By the way, could I ask you a question, like, why is everything in America the great great? Do you ever think about that? It it it it it it it that. It it that. It it, like, like,the great depression, the great recession, the great resignation, the great Gatsby. I mean, like the dude got shot in a swimming pool like a little bitch. What's great about that?

Anyway, you might be wondering why everyone is quitting now. Like right now, why is everyone quitting? I mean, people have wanted to quit the beginning of time, all the way back to caveman days. The guy who's sharpened the stones by hitting him against other stones, he hated his job. He just wanted to dance, but music hadn't been invented yet. But it turns out there isn't one reason people are quitting their jobs. Because the pandemic has given people a million reasons to quit their jobs. Americans are looking for better pay, better working conditions, and more flexible working arrangements. Some have elder care and child care responsibilities in this pandemic. Some say they feel burned out after working through a year that had so many challenges.

Three to four million people are still saying, I am fearful for my health, for the health, for the health of my loved ones, and therefore unwilling to take jobs where the risk of contingent is higher. Millions of Americans worked from home over the last year. th. th. th. th. to to th. to to to th. to the the the the the the their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th. th. toe, th. toe, th. thia, their, thea, tho, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th. Some, th. Some, th. Some, th. Some, th. Some, th. Some, the th. Some, th. Some, the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. Some, the, the, the, the, the, the. thea. thean. throan. thea. ta. tea. tea. tea. Some, thea. Some, thea, the. Some, take jobs where the risk of contingent is higher. Millions of Americans worked from home over the last year and will likely quit rather than go back to the office. Anastasia longed to return to working from home and bravely asked the question. Well, why can't I have that? Like, we did, we did have it. We all worked from home. So why can't, why can't I still have that? Because, I mean, th th th thi the thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, thi, thi, the, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the, the, thr. to, to, toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea, thr. thr. th can't, why can't I still have that? Because I mean, yeah, look, you know what, she has a point. For companies that had people work from home during the pandemic, everything seemed fine. They kept making money, they kept making a profit, which really made a lot of people wonder what the point of coming back into the office is.

Like, why sit in two hours of traffic to then sit at a computer that has the same internet as my computer at home? Except everyone here can see that I'm looking at porn. I mean, honestly, I think companies are playing a dangerous game here. If you're telling employees the only time they can work from home is when there's a global pandemic, you're going to have people trying to start another pandemic. There's going to be people sneaking into the zoo like, all right, let's see what happens when I bite this turtle. Ah! Okay, nothing there. Guess I gotta try banging that snake. But it's not just a desire to work from home. There are so many reasons that people are quitting their jobs right now. Some people don't feel safe because of COVID. Some people don't

have child care. Some people are burned out. And some people just want to try their luck in squid game. I mean, it's a lot of money. You know, if you ignore all the people who died, it's a pretty inspiring story. But there's another reason people are quitting. And honestly, I think this reason is one of the most interesting because it comes from a deeper, almost philosophical place. For a lot of people, the pandemic pandemic pandemic pandemic pandemic pandemic pandemic pandemic pandemic that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that thi is is is thi has changed their minds about life really and what's important and for some people that means changing careers. A growing number of them are not jumping to a new full-time job, but just taking a break.

They are saying I don't want another full-time job right now. I want to hit pause, maybe learn some new skills, take a breather, and maybe plot a new direction in my career. It was a lot of reflection time. I know what I want out of my career, might as well just make the move. 42-year-old Dan Nikolayescu had spent more than two decades in the restaurant industry.

But he says a year home with his wife and two kids changed his perspective. Nikolayescu is hoping to trade mixology for mycology mushroom farming. Is there money in mushroom farming? I guess I'll have to find out. But we can't always pursue only the financial side of things. There is no rewind button in life, right? The man that ties women to train tracks is right.

There's more to life than making money. And the pandemic has forced people to reconsider whether their jobs were really how they wanted to spend their entire lives. And I'm not just talking about boring office jobs, I mean, this guy was mixing cocktails, I'm assuming in the s, and even he wanted to try something new. And I'll be honest. I think it's great that people are pursuing their dreams. But I also think we need like a Google Doc or something, just to make sure we're balancing things out. Like, think about it.

We can't have a society where everybody is pursuing their quirky second careers. I'm all four mushroom farmers, but I still need a proctologist. Those M&M's aren't going to remove themselves. Now obviously most people won't or can't leave their jobs. So these quitters are a very small minority, but the quitters are still having a broader impact because with so many workers willing to leave their jobs, companies are forced to make the jobs more appealing. A pandemic forced power shift, employees gaining the upper hand and making lifestyle demands with employers hoping to keep them happy. Some companies are changing their policies to adapt to the times, offering more perks

and flexibility. REI, the apparel retailer gave up their headquarters building in favor of creating satellite offices so that people could go to work, but go to work in a smaller office that would be closer to their home. LinkedIn is leaving the office behind for good. The networking website says most of its 16,000 employees will be allowed to work remotely full-time. The crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter says it's gearing up to test a four-day work week.

The popular dating app Bumble closing its offices this entire week to give its staff a break. Nike, they just gave a week off to their employees so that their employees can really recharge. Yes, finally, finally people. It's great that companies are starting to be a little more flexible. And you know who deserves the most credit? Spirit Airlines. They were way ahead of the curve on this. Yeah, the guy who cleans their airplanes,

he's been working from home for years. And you know what sort of sucks. What sort of sucks about this thing is how it's all the white collar jobs that are getting more flexible. Because I the in any job can get burned out. Don't get me wrong, but I would love to see the staffs of Kickstarter and Bumble try to explain how burnt out they are to a group of coal miners in West Virginia. We had this one customer who just would not verify his email. I mean, how was your day? Carl died.

Yeah, so you totally get it. I will say though, the one company we really can't afford to lose employees is go fund me. Like they better make the jobs more flexible. We can't have go fund me employees quitting American health care depends on it. So look, at the end of the day, anytime humans experience a massive life change, it changes what they expect from their work.

And these changes could be anything. Having a kid, getting divorced, losing a loved one, and the pandemic has done that to everyone in different ways. Hell, it's even done that to me. Like, I thought I was going to host the Daily Show forever, but now I don't know. I heard there's a job a job a job a job a job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job a job job job job job job job job job job the job the job job job job job job job job job the job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job job the job the job the job the job the job the the the job the job job the the the the the the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their tho. tho. tho. thooooooooooooooooooooooom. tea. th. th. th. thean. th. th. th. th. th. the Daily Show forever, but no, I don't know. And I heard there's a job opening for a guy with a badass mustache to make cocktails, and I think I might be interested. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Ears Edition. Subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and stream full episodes,

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