Where Are Employees Returning to Work? Kronos Introduces Weekly Update on U.S. Workforce Activity

Kronos Incorporated introduced the U.S. Workforce Activity Report, an analysis of week-by-week workplace trends that aims to help business leaders and policy makers understand where and how fast employees are returning to work.

“HR’s Role in Business Continuity: COVID-19 and Beyond.”

Analyzing 30,000 businesses with more than 3.2 million total employees, the U.S. Workforce Activity Report provides an immediate view into the preceding week’s data, including employee shifts worked¹, new hires², terminations³, and pay statements⁴. The report – currently analyzed and released weekly and inclusive of data through May 17 – compares workplace trends since the week ending March 15, 2020, when the U.S. declared a national state of emergency, against pre-pandemic conditions.

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News Facts

• The situation so far: Employee shifts worked are up nearly 16% since hitting “the bottom.”
  • Employee shifts worked were down a staggering 36% between the week ending March 15 – the last “normal” week of workforce activity – and the week ending April 12 – which appears to be when the number of weekly employee shifts worked hit “the bottom.”
  • Since then, employee shifts worked as measured by recorded time and attendance data have gradually and steadily increased for five consecutive weeks, growing a modest 15.8%, or an average of 3.1% growth per week.
  • As many states execute or begin to plan for phased re-openings, the sobering fact remains that a quarter of shifts worked in the pre-pandemic economy (25%) have yet to return.
• Recovery of employee shifts varies drastically by state and industry.
  • Rhode Island and Nevada remain the two hardest-hit states as measured by declines in employee shifts worked compared to pre-pandemic levels, at -63.4% and -59%, respectively.
  • The tri-state area is struggling, too, compared to pre-pandemic levels, with Connecticut (-51.2%), New Jersey (-38.5%), and New York (-37.7%) ranking third, 11^th, and 13^th, respectively, in overall declines. California (-22.8%) is tied for 30^th. Washington State (-23%/29^th overall), an early epicenter of the virus, has experienced 13% growth since hitting “the bottom” the week ending April 12.
  • Conversely, Nevada experienced a significant 64% increase in shifts worked between the weeks ending April 26 and May 17 as the state works to reopen. In Georgia, shift activity has increased 34% since businesses began reopening on April 24. Shifts are down 47% in Massachusetts since week ending March 15, even as the state begins its phased reopening.
  • Industry-specific activity, tracked nationally, improved week over week, but remains down compared to pre-pandemic levels: public sector (-44%); services and distribution (-30%); retail, hospitality, and food service (-26%); manufacturing (-23%); and healthcare (-12%).
  • Public sector (25.8%), manufacturing (16.6%), retail, hospitality, and food service (16.2%), and services and distribution (13.4%) have each made double-digit gains since hitting “the bottom.”
• Despite April’s historic unemployment surge, hiring hasn’t stalled completely.
  • Employee terminations, which for four consecutive weeks in March and April were more than 60% above normal average turnover levels, have declined by a quarter (-25%) since the week ending April 19, though it is too soon to determine if this improvement trend will continue.
  • The number of employees being hired is down by nearly half (-46%) since the week ending March 15, though that figure has held relatively stable for the last six weeks as certain sectors see ballooning demand, including distribution, grocery, logistics, and warehousing.

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