Blue-collar employees are tired of working their unregulated jobs. There is a lot of discontent among these employees, and people refuse to return to their old jobs until major changes are made.
Essential jobs like front desk jobs and Zomato delivery boy positions will soon be empty after current employees move to greener pastures. The great blue-collar resignation may not have arrived in India yet, but it is fast approaching.
Many of us are wondering what this mass resignation is all about; so, continue reading to find out everything there is to know about the great blue-collar resignation.
What Is The Great Blue Collar Resignation?
The pandemic was a tough period for the working class all across the globe. However, the brunt of it was borne by the blue-collar employees in the country. While the government may have subsidized essential goods and rationed food, their income just wasn’t enough.
The great blue-collar resignation is as obvious as the name suggests. It was a mass resignation in the United States by blue-collar employees. People who work low-wage jobs like waiters, hotel cleaners, etc., were heading this protest.
After the country resumed operations after going through the pandemic, these employees refused to return to their respective jobs. This was quite surprising as the number of available jobs was surplus, but people weren’t ready to work. The refusal to return to work came after the United States of America government halted their unemployment benefits in September 2021.
So, why weren’t they ready to come back?
Blue-collar employees are sick of working their old jobs and want higher wages. They want to work better jobs and do not wish to go back to the same old ones. While this is a reality in countries abroad, a change like this is inevitable in India too.
The Economic Crisis in March 2021
Industries in Noida are heavily dependent on manual laborers and factory workers. When the second wave of COVID-19 hit the city in March 2021, most of these laborers left Noida to move to their hometowns.
They chose to quit their jobs instead of asking for leaves. Migrant workers claimed that living on hourly wages in the city during a pandemic was just not feasible. This migration caused an immense economic crisis in the city.
Most blue-collar employees are underpaid, and government policies didn’t help them during the pandemic. This caused low-wage workers to quit their jobs. Today, people are looking for jobs that can sustain them, but they are unsuccessful.
How to Avert This Crisis
The sole reason why most workers are disinterested in working low-paying jobs is that it takes up too much of their time, and the benefits are not worth it. Our economy heavily depends on blue-collar employees, and without them, we could inch towards an economic collapse.
So, what can we do to avoid this situation as an employer?
1. Upskilling
Blue-collar employees are usually from small towns and aren’t very educated or skilled. This is one of the main reasons why they are unable to secure high-paying stable jobs. If you invest in upskilling your blue-collar employees, it will be easier for them to climb the ladder.
The static nature of their hourly wages job makes it frustrating for them to work. However, with adequate skills, they will get promoted eventually and earn more than they previously did.
2. Better Working Conditions
Living conditions in and around the capital, including Noida, are terrible for low-wage, blue-collar employees. If you want to retain workers, you need to introduce better working conditions and help them raise their living standards.
Incentivize jobs and provide them with more than just their wages to attract them to your organization.
3. Implementing Government Policies
The government of India has introduced several policies that favor blue-collar employees. It would be best to research how you can implement them in your company and make working conditions suitable for your employees.
The government also aims at introducing 7 million blue-collar jobs for laborers shortly. You can see how you can introduce subsidies offered by the government in your workplace and mutually benefit from them.
To conclude with
Working conditions need severe changes to retain blue-collar employees. This includes factory workers and people working in the BPO sector, delivery assistants, drivers, etc.
Finding sustainable and reliable jobs in such conditions is a task in itself. However, certain platforms have emerged as a ray of hope for people looking for blue-collar jobs. The platform not only enlists numerous opportunities but is also available in multiple languages.
Blue-collar workers can find job opportunities ranging from front desk jobs and part-time receptionist jobs to Teleperformance jobs in Noida easily using AI-based platforms. Employers can find people willing to work for them on such portals, too, making job search super convenient.
