The Great Resignation — the phenomenon of Americans leaving their jobs at record rates this year — reached a fever pitch in August, with 4.3 million Americans, or nearly 3 percent of the work force, calling it quits. Economic forecasters do not expect the situation to improve substantially anytime soon; some predict continued labor shortages in the coming months, exacerbating supply chain delays.
Why are so many people quitting? In part it may be that they don’t need the money — a consequence of federal stimulus checks, the suspension of student loan payments and months of reduced spending. In part it may be that people are concerned about workplace safety in a country whose population is still less than 60 percent vaccinated.
But it also may be that the Great Resignation is a kind of spontaneous, informal labor strike — a collective demand by workers for substantial raises and other gains after decades of wage stagnancy and suppression. If so, history suggests that the Great Resignation could be the beginning of a meaningful transformation of working conditions in this country.
Consider the situation in France in the first decades of the 20th century. The country experienced labor deficits during World War I because of increased industrial production and a decreased labor supply (a result of mobilizing troops). When the war ended, the influenza pandemic of 1918 further decreased the supply. The labor shortage persisted after the pandemic started to wane in 1920, largely...
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