- Seth Mattison: Why People Left the Labor Market and How We Get Them to Return. Patrick Huey 42:13
The statistics show that the majority of our fellow Americans took stock of their lives during the fevered days of the pandemic. As it turned out we were using the time of lockdown to reevaluate what mattered to us. How could we not? Almost every system we relied upon prior to March 2020 was rendered moot against a virus we could not see. So as the world reopened, it may have looked like we were getting back to normal, but the interiors of our hearts and souls that remain invisible to the naked eye, had shifted.
As businesses began the labor-intensive task of reopening, the expected flood of people returning to work did not materialize. Entry level jobs sat empty; executives switched companies. As federal and state financial support ceased, the number of people leaving the labor market defied the oddsmakers and increased. Why?
Seth Mattison’s work unravels this complex question. It seems that most of the workforce isn’t motivated by generating a robust GOP or driving shareholder dividends (if ever they were). It seems that old definitions of success that valued how quickly one climbed the corporate ladder to a position requiring 60-hour work weeks, rang hollow. Seth will tell you that once people saw what life looked like on the other side of demanding deadlines the dye was cast. Board meetings were replaced with family meals or quiet walks along the beach. Value propositions weren’t measured in the size of a paycheck or corner office with a window, but in listening to and following our internal compasses about what felt right for our lives.
The former view of one person one job has now been replaced by one person working several jobs. People dabble in bitcoin and drive for Uber. Maybe people are finally starting that flower shop they always dreamed about or are finally completing that degree they never finished. Heart matters now matter.
As companies struggle at this inflection point, Seth reminds us that now is the time to build the lives we want to have. Go shape your future.
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