The US has a record number of jobs, but many now prefer to work from home

By Martha C. White - NBC News

The United States had 9.3 million job openings at the end of April, according to data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It is the second month in a row that the labor market has recorded a

record number of job vacancies,

 but the record quit rate of 2.7% is also an indication that workers are willing to leave rather than stay in a job. work they don't like.

The sheer number of job openings is causing serious headaches for small businesses.

"I need to hire about 15 more people," said Leonardo Williams, who runs a restaurant in Durham, North Carolina.

Three years ago, Williams expanded his business with his wife to open Zweli's Kitchen.

Zweli's, Durham's first Zimbabwean restaurant, had a staff of about 25 before the pandemic.

Now, Williams struggles to stay afloat with a staff of five and relies on members of his family to help him out.

"My mother needs a day off," he said.

[If you are unemployed and live in one of these four states, you will lose your federal aid this weekend]

Williams isn't alone:

Nearly half of American small businesses can't find workers,

according to the National Federation of Independent Business.

The 48% job vacancy figure for this time of year is a record, the trade group said.

In April, nearly a third of the people who quit were retail workers, accounting for 116,000 of the 324,000 people who left their jobs that month, according to a survey.

Retail employers are reluctant to raise wages

and offer benefits, so they are losing workers to higher-paying employers, said Nick Shields, a senior analyst covering the retail sector at Third Bridge.

"There is a challenge in retaining them, largely because from a labor point of view, if you are a worker and you are in a smaller or regional retail business, you are going to jump ship," he added.

[Parents have spent the stimulus check they received for their children on this]

Labor market experts say there are concurrent trends in both the white-collar (more skilled) and blue-collar (less skilled) job sectors that make employees reluctant to accept or keep their jobs.

Employers are bringing the millions of white-collar professionals who have been working from home for the past 15 months back to the office, only to find that

many of them have no desire to take back the time and expense of the job. commute to work,

or facing possible exposure to COVID-19.

Consulting firm Korn Ferry found that about three-quarters of workers say they have more energy and focus when working from home.

"When talking to job applicants or employees, there are much higher expectations from employees to continue telecommuting, but much less from employers," said Andrew Challenger, vice president of the executive outplacement company. Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Unemployment assistance claims drop for the sixth week in a row

June 10, 202100: 20

That disconnect will be a growing challenge, experts say.

"I think it's going to be more difficult for companies to get people back in those positions because a year has passed, and those expectations have built up," said David Barron, an employment attorney at the Cozen O'Connor law firm.

"Putting that genie back in the bottle is a real concern," he added.

"In some industries, there will be a retention problem," said Rue Dooley, who works at the Society for Human Resource Management.

"Employers are going to have to redesign what they do

, which is part of the reason the hybrid model is trending. Companies are realizing they are going to lose people," he said.

The Korn Ferry survey also found that about half - 49% - of workers said they would reject a job offer that would force them to work full time in the office.

Senior executives in some companies and industries - the Wall Street banking titans are a prominent example - have made no secret of their preference for having employees back in offices later this year.

"Employers want employees to be back in a physical place for a number of reasons," says Dooley.

[Consumer prices rise 5% in May, the fastest pace since the great recession of 2008]

"It's hard to do payroll when you have employees who work from where they want to work," he said, citing the "administrative hassle" of employers having to keep track of where each would have to pay income taxes, especially if the Employees decide to telecommute from various locations throughout the year.

There are also problems related to corporate culture.

"It's hard to let white-collar people work from home every day when everyone else has to go to the workplace," Barron said, which could lead to resentment and even accusations of discrimination.

"I think companies have to look at job descriptions - what are the essential functions of the job, what are the expectations - and rethink from top to bottom who needs to be in the office and how often," Barron said.

"Some work activities, in particular, are easier to do in person, like brainstorming," Lindsay Duran, chief marketing officer for software company Zilliant, told NBC News TODAY. 

California tacos are crying out for more employees: some prefer unemployment benefits

June 10, 202101: 41

Of course, millions of Americans work jobs that cannot be done from behind a screen at the kitchen table.

Restaurants, hotels and stores struggle to find workers to fill the lowest paid positions

as demand increases along with reopenings.

Much of the work cannot be done remotely, posing unique challenges: Some workers in positions with clients - especially in areas with low vaccination rates -

continue to fear contracting the virus,

and parents working in these sectors remain marginalized by the scarcity of childcare options as they are unable to work and supervise their children at the same time.

[Half of the unemployment aid money may have been stolen by foreign criminals]

Consequently,

wages are rising

as employers compete for hiring.

Although the median hourly wage in retail rose $ 9 cents in May, Shields said many retailers are containing rising wages by offering one-time welcome bonuses.

However, if the job market remains tight until the fall, they may have no alternative.

"We are in standby mode," he said.

Here's the conclusion restaurant owners have already come to: Median hourly earnings in May for workers in the hospitality and leisure sector - a sector that added 292,000 jobs last month - increased by $ 23 cents per hour. for the month, compared to $ 15 cents across the industry.

Williams said

the competition for workers is fierce.

"Chili's is in the same parking lot as us and has a sign that says, '$ 400 welcome bonus and $ 13-18 an hour.' We can't compete," he said.

But when she lost her head chef when she left for another restaurant, Williams said she had to take action.

"Taco Bell paid $ 17 an hour plus a welcome bonus of $ 300. We fought for her and got her back, but we had to pay her $ 18 an hour. It was worth it because she plays a vital role," he said.

"She is like family here."