Samuel Case, FISM News
With companies being hammered by the highly contagious Omicron variant a new Census Bureau report revealed that 6% of the workforce stayed home between Dec. 29 and Jan.10.
In what’s being called “The Great Sickout,” 8.8 million Americans are out of work because either they are sick or are taking care of someone who is sick. An additional 3.2 million people are staying home out of fear of contracting the virus or spreading to others.
Speaking at a Senate hearing on Tuesday, FDA acting commissioner Janet, said that in light of the large number of employees out sick, the focus must be “on continuity of operations for hospitals and other essential services as this variant sweeps through the population,” while acknowledging, “Most people are going to get COVID.”
The “sickout” is likely to exacerbate underlying employment issues in the country. Earlier this month the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report that showed 4.5 million people quit their jobs in the month of November, 370,000 more than October.
“The sectors that experienced the biggest increases of quits include accommodation and food services which added 159,000; health care and social assistance which added 52,000; and transportation, warehousing and utilities which added 33,000,” FISM News reported.
Recently the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that for the week ending Jan. 15, 286,000 people applied for first-time unemployment benefits, 55,000 more than the week before. CBS News reports that last week saw the highest number of unemployment claims since mid-October.