The 60 Minutes Episode That Had Audiences Sending In Complaint Letters

The episode that aired on January 9, 2022, “The Big Quit,” discussed the changes in the American workforce brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the four people interviewed by Bill Whitaker for the segment, two were business owners and one was an economic expert. It wasn’t until nearly nine minutes in until they got to an actual employee, overworked marketing professional Melissa Williams. They didn’t dig very far to find her, though — she worked for one of the business owners also featured. 

According to fans, the episode completely ignores the growing gap between America’s wealthiest people and workers like Williams. The World Bank uses a measure called the Gini index to measure wealth inequality across the globe, and the most recent data places the United States the 47th worst out of 168 nations for which information is available. That’s worse than China, Russia, and Iran, none of which would pass for a worker’s paradise.

In a Reddit thread posted the next morning, many viewers said they thought the piece clearly favored the corporate side of the story and ignored the real plight of workers. Redditor u/UltraMegaMegaMan wrote of Williams’ situation, “It’s a tragedy, a travesty, not a success story that’s a testament to good ol’ gumption and moxie and elbow grease … The whole thing is spin to make this seem positive, while ignoring workers, the pain, the abuse, the poverty … Just smug condescension, and platitudes about how ’empowered’ we all are.”

The episode that aired on January 9, 2022, “The Big Quit,” discussed the changes in the American workforce brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the four people interviewed by Bill Whitaker for the segment, two were business owners and one was an economic expert. It wasn’t until nearly nine minutes in until they got to an actual employee, overworked marketing professional Melissa Williams. They didn’t dig very far to find her, though — she worked for one of the business owners also featured. 

According to fans, the episode completely ignores the growing gap between America’s wealthiest people and workers like Williams. The World Bank uses a measure called the Gini index to measure wealth inequality across the globe, and the most recent data places the United States the 47th worst out of 168 nations for which information is available. That’s worse than China, Russia, and Iran, none of which would pass for a worker’s paradise.

In a Reddit thread posted the next morning, many viewers said they thought the piece clearly favored the corporate side of the story and ignored the real plight of workers. Redditor u/UltraMegaMegaMan wrote of Williams’ situation, “It’s a tragedy, a travesty, not a success story that’s a testament to good ol’ gumption and moxie and elbow grease … The whole thing is spin to make this seem positive, while ignoring workers, the pain, the abuse, the poverty … Just smug condescension, and platitudes about how ’empowered’ we all are.”