Transform Your Workplace + Hotel Insurance + Keeping Pests Out + Secure Business Communications + E-Skimming Attacks

The Great Resignation

In 2021, our recovering economy experienced two historic, yet contradictory trends. First, the demand for workers returned in spectacular fashion, skyrocketing at unprecedented rates. Second and conversely, millions of potential workers have remained unemployed on the sidelines. The tension between the two economic patterns has given rise to a unique job market in which record unemployment figures were driven not by a lack of jobs, but by a lack of willing workers. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, as of December 2021, 6.3 million Americans were unemployed.1

Who is Leaving the Workforce and Why?

The American workforce is also experiencing sweeping demographic changes. Millennials and Gen Zs entering the hiring pool bring new ideologies, viewpoints and approaches to their work. Simply put, newer workers increasingly seek work they care about – work with purpose – and are less tolerant of mistreatment and unethical practices. The pandemic hit those with childcare responsibilities particularly hard, driving many to leave the workforce entirely. In 2021 alone, the workforce lost 1.6 million mothers of children under 18.2 The number of working fathers declined by an additional 1.3 million.3

SecurityMetrics has shared this informational article with HFTP members and stakeholders after discovering a major increase in skimming tactics, especially e-skimming. This blog post is intended to spread awareness of e-skimming, as it targets businesses with online payment options and is virtually undetectable by typical security tools, such as antivirus software.

Skimming has always been a threat for retailers. Prior to the EMV chip on credit cards, approximately 80 percent of our forensic investigations were performed in card-present environments such as hotels, restaurants and hardware stores. The implementation of the EMV chip solved many of the issues around physical skimming but did nothing to resolve ecommerce skimming.