In recent weeks, what business issue or news topic have you found inspiring?

A recent article from The New York Times reports that September saw the largest number on record of workers quitting their jobs in the United States, despite the over ten million job openings during the same period. While it would be simple to point to the pandemic and the economic havoc that it wreaked across the country as the culprit, the pandemic was but the proximate cause of this mass exodus, and the root causes, having been bubbling for decades, are far more complex. Although it would be inaccurate to portray all employers as nefarious entities seeking to exploit their employees, it is true that the increasingly competitive job market has meant that candidates would often have to sacrifice more of their own needs or values to find gainful employment. Now, the massive labor shortage has given workers significant leverage when it comes to negotiations over salaries and other perquisites, including parental leave. As a business student myself, I am under no delusion that financial solvency is unimportant. However, I believe that business, at its core, is about service. A healthier society with a rich array of services to enhance people’s daily lives raises the standard of living for everyone - employees and employers alike. The immense labor shortage in the interim is a thorny predicament, and I certainly hope that the numbers of job seekers and job vacancies can be reconciled in the post-pandemic world. However, as challenging as they are, the current differences between employee needs and employer wants are merely growing pains in the American economy. If workers’ current departure from the labor market is adumbrative of a recalibration of the balance of power between employers and employees in the future, then I feel optimistic that these temporary difficulties will lead to a more just and equitable world.