WPI Labor Day Report 2023

The post-pandemic labor market remains tight, although there are signs of its loosening. For much of the past year, there were approximately two job openings per unemployed individual, but in July that ratio fell to 1.5 job openings. This labor supply and demand gap has, in some industries, helped shift the balance of power from employers to workers, contributing to increased union organizing efforts and notable strike activity, even while the overall union membership rate continues to decline. "Loud quitting" is gaining on "quiet quitting" as workers become more actively than passively disengaged at work. At the same time, the rates at which employers are hiring and employees are leaving their jobs have decreased slightly in recent months, indicating employees may be becoming more cautious about their employment decisions, and the balance of labor market power might be gravitating back to employers.