‘Great Resignation’ Slowing, But Hourly Employees Remain Unhappy

The Great Resignation is showing signs of slowing down, even though most hourly workers remain deeply unhappy with their jobs.

According to Legion Technologies’ 2022 State of the Hourly Workforce Report, employers showed an Employee Net Promoter Score, which determines loyalty and satisfaction on a -100 to 100 scale, of -7 among hourly workers.

The report from Legion, which provides a workforce management platform, found that 57.6% of hourly employees have no plans to leave their positions in the next 12 months. However, 75% of those who do plan to look for a job immediately or within the next year are younger employees (aged 18-24) who make up one of the fastest growing segments of the 73.3 million hourly workers and managers across the country.

Hourly workers want their companies to offer more flexible schedules and autonomy, with 85% of them saying it’s important to have control of their schedule. This preference is most prominent among the younger generations entering the workforce. Meantime, hourly workers aged 18-24 are five times more likely to have a primary job and a side gig job than older age groups because they don’t have enough money to cover food and the cost of rent.

What Hourly Workers Want

Besides pay, greater recognition and rewards are the incentives most likely to persuade hourly employees to leave an existing position and take a new job (58.3%), followed by the flexibility to pick up extra shifts and swap shifts (56.3%). Managers, specifically, agree with the latter: besides pay, 63% of managers find control and input into work schedules as the greatest incentive for prospective employees they interview, followed by greater transparency into shift assignments and hours given (52.4%).

“To attract and retain hourly employees, employers must invest in workforce incentives and technologies that offer schedule flexibility and control, as well as improve communication and strengthen financial health by providing instant access to earned wages,” said Legion CEO Sanish Mondkar. “Employers risk losing top talent to companies that show their hourly employees they are valued by providing them with the benefits they want and need.”

More findings from the hourly workers include:

• Hourly employees value pay autonomy, with nearly 75% saying they’d be most motivated to pick up extra shifts by being paid a premium.
• Some 64% of females who hold more than one job do so because they don’t make enough money to cover rent and food, compared to 49.2% of males
• More than 80% of 18-24 year-olds said it would be important to very important to get paid early if they needed the money versus nearly 39% of respondents ages 55-64

Key manager findings include:

• About 42% of managers said managing call-outs and no-shows takes the most time and effort, a 7% increase from last year’s findings.
• Other than pay, 39% of managers believe their employer could improve their experience by providing tools that make it easier to communicate with their team.
• Managers overwhelmingly agree (84%) that efficiency and productivity would improve if they were able to communicate with employees through the same app that they use to view their schedules.

“If companies expect to improve employee attrition in today’s increasingly uncertain economic climate, they need to stop overlooking the hourly manager and employee experience to ensure recent gains are not lost,” said Mondkar.

By Mark Feffer

Mark Feffer is executive editor of RecruitingDaily and the HCM Technology Report. He’s written for TechTarget, HR Magazine, SHRM, Dice Insights, TLNT.com and TalentCulture, as well as Dow Jones, Bloomberg and Staffing Industry Analysts. He likes schnauzers, sailing and Kentucky-distilled beverages.