ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Sixty-one percent of Gen Zers want the option to get paid every day, reports Fortune. Daily pay, or earned wage access, help workers pay off loans and bills on time and avoid late payments, overdraft fees and high payday loan interest rates. These pay benefits may be helpful to Gen Z as they were the most likely generation to lose their job, have a pay cut or see a reduction in hours of work available per week due to the pandemic’s impact on the economy.
The pandemic fueled the rise of an on-demand world, Jeanniey Walden, chief innovation and marketing officer of on-demand pay software company DailyPay, told Fortune. Consumers can get food delivery, a place to live and buy or sell a car at the touch of a button, so pay is the next natural step, according to Walden.
“For many of us, this is a welcome evolution, but for Gen Z, [getting things on-demand] is just the way they grew up,” Walden told Fortune. “It’s not only what they know, it’s what they expect.”
The number of open jobs fell in May, reports CNBC. There were 11.25 million jobs available in May, down from 11.68 million in April. The rate of vacancies fell to 6.9% from 7.2%, with 1.9 job openings per available worker, which is around historical highs. Quits declined slightly in May to 4.27 million.
The U.S. unemployment rate in May was 3.6%, just above where it was before the pandemic. However, there are 440,000 fewer Americans at work now than there were in February 2020.
“These unusually historically tight labor market conditions could actually persist for quite a long time,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at jobs search site ZipRecruiter, told the Wall Street Journal.
However, job seekers feel confident they will land their preferred jobs, according to a recent ZipRecruiter survey, but respondents’ expectations for the conditions of the labor market in the future declined.
“You’re now starting to see this uncertainty and lack of confidence in other markets seep into the labor market, with job seekers getting a little nervous,” Pollak told the Journal.
Listen to the Convenience Matters podcast episode “Is the ‘Great Resignation’ Over?” for more advice from experts from McKinsey and Company for navigating this competitive labor environment.
NACS has a variety of HR webinars that explore how retailers can attract and hire team members today and in the future, as well as this series of HR topics, including pay timing and how it can attract and retain workers and flexible and innovative scheduling.