Survey: American Workers Left Jobs for Caregiving in Pandemic

Four in 10 U.S. hiring decision-makers report that employees have left their company during the COVID-19 pandemic to care for children or other family members.

That finding is from a survey conducted by the Harris Poll and commissioned by Express Employment Professionals. Data for the survey was collected between Nov. 16 and Dec. 7, 2020, among 1,002 U.S. hiring decision-makers.

Of those who left companies for caregiving responsibilities, 27 percent said it was for children, and 25 percent departed to care for other family members. 

Over one-third (37 percent) of respondents say employees have changed their work schedule and 32 percent report workers have reduced their hours due to family obligations.

Some additional findings from the survey include the following:

• A substantial majority (79 percent) of employment decision-makers believe their company is doing “just the right amount” to help employees balance work with caregiving responsibilities.

• More than two-thirds (68 percent) say employees have expressed an interest in having services offered to help them balance responsibilities.

• Only 32 percent of respondents say one of their company’s most important priorities is continually updating programs to accommodate employees who are caregivers. 

• One-third (33 percent) say that a permanent effect of the COVID-19 pandemic will be leadership being more flexible in accommodating employees’ schedules and needs. 

• Almost eight in 10 (78 percent) of respondents agree it is important to their company to “nurture and grow” working-parent leaders within their organization, but only 38 percent say their company offers programs to help employees who are parents stay in the workplace. 

“Those companies that figured out how to accommodate this workforce segment… helped continue to put food on the table for families and staff essential businesses to keep the economy going,” said Bill Stoller, CEO of Express Employment Professionals. “Support should continue well beyond the pandemic for caregivers to get the labor force back to full strength and health.”

The Harris Poll, headquartered in Chicago, is a market-research and analytics company that has been measuring public opinion since 1963.

Express Employment Professionals is an international staffing firm based in Oklahoma City. The firm employs over 526,000 people across more than 830 franchise locations worldwide.