Turnover is a common occurrence throughout any given year. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, turnover rates fell dramatically. Now, a significant number of employees are unwilling to return to the status quo that was established pre-pandemic. That’s a major reason why experts predict a “turnover tsunami” coming in the latter half of 2021.
What’s Happening? Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, workers clung to their jobs as a way to maintain financial security, having seen countless others get furloughed or laid off. In fact, LinkedIn found that 74% of employees have been “sheltering in job.” That means workers are staying in their current roles to collect a steady paycheck and keep household finances stable—that is, until the pandemic is over. Now, as the economy opens back up, employers are pushing for employees to return to the workplace. But a significant number of employees are unwilling to return to the status quo established pre-pandemic. Workplace stressors— worsened by the pandemic—are partly to blame. Additionally, dissatisfaction with compensation, benefits and work-life balance are top reasons why employees are job hunting.
With hopes of a return to normalcy slowly deteriorating thanks to the Delta variant and concerning upticks in COVID cases across the country, employers are struggling to find ways to stay afloat. 
As the Delta variant rages on, Facebook, Target, Home Depot, and McDonald’s all put masks back on the table for workers. Yet the decision to require masks once again has not been an easy one for employers.
Today New York City’s “Ban the Box” Amendment officially went into effect. The amendment offers new protections for job applicants with a criminal history. And effective Dec. 31st, states across the country will be required to follow suit.
With the Delta variant complicating our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, many local officials are starting to reinstate their mask mandates. However, this poses a tricky issue for employers, particularly those who encouraged vaccines among their employees with their promise that vaccinated staff could drop their masks at work.
