Hiring bonuses may convince unemployed to get back to work: US Chamber of Commerce

Hiring bonuses appear to be an effective way to get more of the unemployed back to work, according to a survey by the US Chamber of Commerce released on Tuesday. It found that 39% of unemployed Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic and are not actively looking for work say that a $1,000 hiring bonus would increase their urgency to return to full-time employment. It was the most appealing solution for hesitant-to-return workers.

The poll included 506 Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic and have not returned to full-time employment. It was conducted from May 17 to May 20.

Other incentives included work-from-home flexibility, picked by 32%, and worker vaccination requirements, picked by 23%.

The percentage who say hiring bonuses could attract them back to the job market was particularly high among unemployed workers age 25 to 34 (53%) and those with some college education but not a degree (49%).

The US Chamber of Commerce noted that 10 states have already announced return-to-work bonuses: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Virginia.

Separately, Indeed released data earlier this week that 4.1% of job postings in the week ended June 18 contained hiring incentives, up from 1.8% in the same week last year, Yahoo reported. “Job seekers are able to have a little wiggle room and be able to shop around a little bit more,” AnnElizabeth Konkel, an economist at Indeed Hiring Lab, told Yahoo Finance Live. “Employers are increasingly offering hiring incentives that can be anything from signing bonuses to retention bonuses to cash incentives.”

Business Insider reported Disney is one of the companies offering $1,000 sign-on bonuses to some workers at its parks.

The original article can be found at: Staffing Industry Analysts