Study: US unemployed want to find work — but are struggling to find the right job

Today hasn’t only been a good day for the UK job market. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics published figures for May that showed employment rose by 559,000 – compared to only 266,000 jobs added in April – and the US unemployment rate fell by 0.3% to 5.8%.

There were large gains in the leisure and hospitality, education, as well as health and social care sectors. This makes sense given the US economy, like the UK’s, is rebounding as a result of restrictions being lifted and an impressive vaccine rollout.

These figures are promising, but it is too early to say if the US will see a long-term improvement in the job market.

Research by Jobcase debunks the myth that the unemployed have been disincentivized from finding new jobs by the government’s COVID-19 relief package.

According to the findings, 93%of workers are not making more from the government’s COVID-19 relief package than they were before the pandemic.

Instead, they are very keen to get back to work, but are struggling to find the right job.

Jobcase surveyed 500 unemployed individuals based in the US using the Qualtrics platform and found that 59% were currently looking to return to full-time work; 26% of them have been looking for work for over a year.

However, they were facing multiple obstacles in finding the right job. The number one concern is the lack of jobs available near to them, but there are other issues linked with not having the right connections, the need for new and updated skills in the new world of work, and finding a role that pays what they need.

An employer’s COVID-19 safety procedures, schedule flexibility, and growth opportunities are also important considerations for US job seekers.

So what employers do to attract and hire these unemployed workers?

Jobcase CEO Fred Goff notes: “We reject the narrative that extraordinary unemployment benefits are keeping people on the sidelines and this research backs it up.

“Yes, the current labor markets are very tight, but this presents a huge opportunity for employers who walk the walk on stakeholder capitalism.

“Employers simply need to step up and value workers as much as they do shareholders. It’s that easy.”