Job Moves Stay Low During Recovery, Hurting Workers, Growth

Feel stuck in your job?

You probably are.

While unemployment is dropping, the job market needs more "churn," or job-to-job moves, to truly recover, write Stanford economics professor Edward Lazear and Bureau of Labor Statistics economist James Spletzer in a recent working paper.

A couple of things are going on. The recession has left workers fearful of leaving the stability of their current position and companies are still not replacing all their employees, the authors write.

The number of job moves per quarter plunged 29 percent between the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2009 and has not recovered, according to paper. While the number of job-to-job moves hovered above 8 million per quarter between 2004 and 2007, that number now has reached a new normal of about 6 million per quarter, according to the paper.

All those stuck-in-place workers are dragging down the economy, write the authors. Workers just collecting paychecks aren't always a great fit and usually aren't putting forth their grandest effort. The hit to economic growth can be "permanent," Lazear and Spletzer write. They estimate that the gross domestic product has grown about 0.4 percent less per year since the start of the recession because workers have been less able to move.

The job market now is not flexible enough to absorb enough new graduates or unemployed workers, since not enough people are quitting, according to The Wall Street Journal. 1.9 million people quit their jobs in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: just two-thirds the typical number before the recession, according to the WSJ.

"When people cease to change jobs, the system grinds to a halt," the WSJ wrote.

The economy needs "a lot" of growth for workers to gain enough leverage to leave their jobs and find new opportunities, The Economist wrote.

Comments

[jefe]

04:58 AM on 02/16/2012

I agree with this partially, I think employers have purposely weeded out any employees with opposing ideas, or that may be a threat to their own job, leaving a work force full of yes men drones.

[whyus]

05:53 PM on 02/15/2012

Great idea, but then someeople would have trouble feeding their families while being unemployed.

[Independentproud]

01:03 PM on 02/15/2012

"While unemployment is dropping, the job market needs more "churn," or job-to-job moves, to truly recover, write Stanford economics professor Edward Lazear and Bureau of Labor Statistics economist James Spletzer in a recent working paper."

At the end of December there were 3.373 million job openings and 13.097 million unemployed, for a ratio of 3.88. So you can give up your job and compete with 3 other people for the next job that may not even be as good as the job you left. Another example of these economist don't live in the same world we do.

I'll tell you what, Professors, you quit your jobs and report back to us how well that worked.

[spinotter11]

04:20 PM on 02/15/2012

They are not disagreeing with you. They are saying that people are staying in their jobs because they are not confident that they will find a better job, or any job, if they quit their current job. You are saying the same thing. They are also saying that it would be better for the economy and individual employees if there were more "chum" taking place.

[blueken60]

12:22 PM on 02/15/2012

I'm 62 years old and the only thing keeping me going to work every day is the high cost of health insurance. Who would leave their present job when the media pounds away at the un-employment picture day after day? Just wait until us baby boomers start to leave the work place and start drawing down our 401k's. Gonna be a lot of money leaving the market. It will be interesting.

[CrashTest]

12:10 PM on 02/15/2012

I've actually put in my two-weeks notice this week for a job that is more meaningful to me. I highly recommend keeping the the coals hot and always looking despite the amount of quitters and negative attitude out there. I've been scraping by for the past three years but NEVER gave up. After years of contracts, being shit on by employers, treated like dirt, used up, and spit out, I always had my best foot forward, and for the first time in three eff-ing years it's finally MY turn to fire THEM. Employers LOVE the down-in-the-dumps employee, they are scared of what is out there, scared to ask for a raise, and scared to quit, and don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Don't be that person.

[TampaGuy33604]

11:48 AM on 02/15/2012

People aren't quitting jobs and moving, BECAUSE THEY CAN'T MOVE!!!. This is such a dumb excuse for a news article. Most people if they can sell their home in the first place, it's not without losing a substatial amount of money. That is what's keeping them in their jobs... not to mention the lack of jobs out there they might be able to get.

[american-dolt]

10:12 AM on 02/15/2012

You quit yours first.

[SaveRMiddle]

10:06 AM on 02/15/2012

Certainly an employers dream this past 4 years. Flush out those making a living wage and replace them with crews making much less.

[diana68]

02:37 PM on 02/15/2012

Exactly what I was thinking. Only thing standing in their way now is that dastardly minimum wage. But have no fear they're working on that as we speak.

[JTH2711]

09:55 AM on 02/15/2012

On a day of dumb articles, this could be the dumbest. This is stupid!!!

[gregbo520]

08:56 AM on 02/15/2012

The article fails to address the fact that many are trapped in their jobs because they're trapped in their houses. A lot of us are either underwater on our mortgages or otherwise unable to sell at fire sale prices. This makes it impossible to accept a job outside of a limited geographic area.

[chiGrkBoy]

08:25 AM on 02/15/2012

My company is suddenly hiring and asking us all to recommend people. We've done this for years and they generally reject them all because they are not "superstars who will work for cheap"

So now they sent notices asking us to help them recruit...we're all thinking about sending them the resumes of the hundreds they laid off.

[vinyl1]

01:27 PM on 02/15/2012

Why is this a surprise? If you don't need anything, you might buy something anyway if it is just what you want at a fabulously low price.

But once you're in the market, and have a need, then you're willing to pay much more.

[Eileenla]

07:24 AM on 02/15/2012

Okay...I'll bite. How are workers supposed to "change" jobs when there aren't even enough jobs - according to this article - to absorb new workers and college grads? How does changing jobs create new jobs? By my math, it fills one slot and opens another...net job growth = zero.

[psandysdad]

06:53 AM on 02/15/2012

Trying to change jobs right now is hideously difficult for, I'll warrant, pretty much all of the working class; I fail to see how the advice is relevant. There are far more workers needing jobs than there are jobs available.

Ever respond to a newspaper want-ad for a job and face 250 apllicants for one position? Do the math.

[The Joler]

01:51 AM on 02/15/2012

What part of they aren't changing jobs because there are not sufficient jobs in the economy to make this attractive, did the lerned professors miss in their studied analysis.

[PTerrys]

04:00 AM on 02/15/2012

Well, that and most are not qualified for the jobs that are available.

[Nuyorican21]

11:58 PM on 02/14/2012

Yes, the ability to move from job to job in order to build skills and keep the ladder moving is good for many new workers. But right now, the rationality of quitting your job is extinct.

Good old economists, looking at how pretty the box is instead of finding out what actually is in the box.