The current U.S. hiring boom happening across the country is different than ones in the past. That's because, while companies are adding employees at a rapid rate, the number of hours those employees are working is dropping. The average number of hours worked by private sector employees declined to 34.3 in May, making it lower than the 2019 average. - It is also down from the peak of 35 hours in January 2021.
- Typically, employers cutting hours is seen as a sign of recession. But payrolls rose by 339,000 in May and by nearly 1.6 million this year.
- Layoffs were nearly 13% lower in April than they were in any average month in 2019, according to the Labor Department.
- Part of the reasoning behind the hiring of employees for fewer hours has been the hassle and expense of hiring and training new employees when businesses are picking up again, as it is a tougher time to focus on the hiring and training processes.
- Businesses are also able to fill long unfilled roles and help employees that were doing more work to cover for the lack of backfill to scale back.
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