For the first time since April, shift work contracted in key U.S. business segments
UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group):
National Overview:
According to the November 2020 Workforce Activity Report from UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group), U.S. businesses with fewer than 500 employees experienced shrinking shift work1 volume over the last month2. This is the first time since April that shift work has contracted in key business segments.
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Businesses with under 100 employees worked 0.4% fewer shifts in November than October, while those with 101-500 employees worked 0.7% fewer shifts over the same period. Larger businesses with more than 5,000 employees were the primary driver of shift growth, experiencing a 4.6% monthly increase.
Nationally, shift growth for the month registered a mere 0.1%. When focusing on the mid-month reference week used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to measure monthly employment gains, shift work contracted 0.2% nationally.
Industry Analysis:
Total November shift trends by industry:
Retail, hospitality, and food service: 2% growth
Services and distribution: 0.6% growth
Manufacturing: 0.1% growth
Healthcare: -0.8% contraction
Public sector: -1.8% contraction
Region Snapshot:
Shift work volume declined in two out of four U.S. regions:
Northeast3: -0.4% contraction in November
Midwest4: -0.4% contraction in November
West5: 0.5% growth in November
Southeast6: 1.1% growth in November
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Recovery Scale:
The UKG Workforce Recovery Scale—a measure of shift work losses and gains during the COVID-19 pandemic—sits at 87.1. It also sat at 87.1 in September, meaning there has been no meaningful improvement in shift work volume over the last 90 days. By contrast, the Workforce Recovery Scale bottomed out at 66.6 in April.
Commentary:
Dave Gilbertson, vice president, UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group)
“November represents a significant setback in the effort to help millions of Americans get back to work. It’s alarming to see smaller businesses—those with between 5 and 500 employees—experience outright contraction. The modest 0.1% shift work growth overall that we are witnessing is buoyed by the largest businesses—those with more than 5,000 employees. This is not the news that business owners, employees, and those still searching for regular work had been hoping for as we head into colder winter months when outdoor activities will be more limited.”
Timeliness:
The UKG Workforce Activity Report analyzes high frequency shift data spanning 3.2 million employees across 30,000 businesses to understand weekly trends. It is current as of November 29, 2020.