Labor shortage, maybe it's not just the low pay

[edhopper]

Oh sure, that is part of it. But maybe when COVID came and they were no longer spending time at shit jobs, and could take a step back, a lot of these workers realized how grueling the work really was. That maybe killing themselves at shit jobs for shit pay wasn't worth it. Forced to work long hours, forced to work for crappy boses who treated them like they should be grateful to take their garbage day in, day out. Maybe they think there can be a better way to live that isn't so punishing all the time.
Just maybe.

[JenniferJuniper]

1. Nearly every member on my staff makes over 100k,

but the job sucks donkey balls. It's all desk work, but you have to work 10 hours a day six days a week sitting at a desk with few if any breaks just to keep up. The turnover since the lull in the pandemic has been extraordinary. The last woman who left said she was going to go work at a flower shop.

I think people are reconsidering everything.

[questionseverything]

5. Psssst

6 days a week/ 10 hours a day isn’t a job

It’s hell

[LizBeth]

10. I think people are reconsidering everything.

I agree, I think so.

[onethatcares]

20. pssst, pssst

with those kind of hours, the work will never be caught up with.

Time for the company you work for to get rid of the donkeys and hire temps or temps to staff.

[underpants]

2. It's going to be interesting to see what analysis comes up with.

If you are making $10/hour and you can stay home for $300/week plus whatever the state pays why the hell would you go to work? If I was in that position I wouldn’t.

Jobs are going to be there so why rush back?

The void of resignations and retirements during the lock downs has been replaced by a massive sit this year. There could be a lot of people who were in the type jobs where you see NOW HIRING who’ve found positions closer to their education.

I do think that mental health could be in play here. Bothe positive and negative. People may really be struggling and alcohol sales have been through the roof for over a year. The other side is what you touched on - people may have sat back and said “There HAS to be something else”. I’m afraid the negative could heavily outweigh the positive.

Just some thoughts.

[BannonsLiver]

3. Some years ago I started noticing a trend at fast food places and grocery stores

That the people making my food and sacking my groceries were no longer teens, but adults.

I’m not sure how teens make money today, but it’s not from working fast food or other traditional “teen” jobs.

I guess now you can make money in other ways, like having an only fans page or day trading. Or perhaps some parents don’t want their kids working fast food jobs?

[Igel]

17. Fewer teens have jobs.

Teen employment rates have trended down over the last 15 years; I think they trended up during the lockdowns when schools were "virtual" (as in "virtually existing," at least for some students).

Heard one manager wondering how it would go in the fall--so many high-school students were pulling 30, 40 hour weeks, 8-hour day shifts. Once they return to school, either HS or college ...

[BannonsLiver]

18. Well it's not going too well in my neck of the woods even in the summer

My wife was forced to go to McDonald’s on Sunday night (late flight, no food in the house and we hadn’t eaten much on a long travel day) and the poor lady working the drive thru told her they were limiting it to one order per car.

I say “they” because as she explained to my wife, she was the only one working, and that’s all she was able to handle.

There is a Wendy’s near our house that was recently built, and it’s sat empty for weeks likely because they can’t staff it just yet. I think the message has been sent that the long free ride of cheap labor for franchise owners is at an end. And frankly, I’m not sure even offering $15-17 an hour, even in a place with a low cost of living, is going to be enough to lure people back to these jobs, which will probably accelerate the move to automation.

[JCMach1]

23. It's back to teens where I live

[Mary in S. Carolina]

4. I agree

Everyone, at some point in life, needs to prove something. I know women who work for $35,000 per year pay child care for 3 children...for what a BMW that is leased for $1,000+ per month? Everyone needs to figure it out, the BMW is not worth it, nor is anything else for that matter.

[Lucky Luciano]

6. One restaurant owner said he has a hard time hiring partly because of...

…the generous UE benefits, but also because there are fewer immigrant workers looking for work. Perhaps they got chased out when the work dried up in March 2020 and they haven’t returned. I have no real data on this, but it seems plausible as an additional explanation.

[MiniMe]

12. tRump chased them out

[durablend]

22. Maybe he should pay more than $2.13 an hour

[Lucky Luciano]

25. Min wage is still 15, so if tips are not made, they still get 15.

High-ish end restaurant too, so a tip can be a decent size ($500 for the four adults and three kids). Anyway, that the labor supply is much lower due to fewer immigrants is very plausible. The trumpers say nobody wants to work…they want the immigrants to go away so wages don’t get depressed…voila…they get what they want with fewer immigrants (perhaps - still not sure about this)…but higher wages are still not being offered….and the trumpers complain nobody wants to work…well, if the supply of labor really is smaller, wages need to rise.

[Wounded Bear]

7. A lot of people are figuring out how much they pay to actually have a job...

[hueymahl]

8. I think that is part of it

But the low wages most shit jobs pay is the main thing.

[LizBeth]

9. And mean, crappy customers too. It was an awakening for me and have been spending my time

applying for better clerical work in offices with livable wages. Now, I have a downside that at 60 I have less of a chance. But, as long as I have a chance, I will keep on applying. I have an interview tomorrow and fingers crossed. I have made it thru three filters, I just have one more.

I agree. I think many of us saw how just a little more made it so we could pay our monthly bills and reflecting on the nasty customers we seem to get now a days.

[brer cat]

11. Good luck!

It can be so discouraging to job hunt after 50.

[LizBeth]

14. Fingers crossed. I have had lots of interested but no deal closer.

[brer cat]

15. Keep us updated.

We are pulling for you.

[LizBeth]

16. Ahhh, TY. You are the best.

[OhioBlue]

13. I think there are a lot of factors affecting the labor shortage

1. Baby Boomers retiring - this has been predicted for quite a while that there would be a labor shortage or a "knowledge drain" as Boomers retired. As a generation, they have a longer life expectancy and have been healthier than previous generations and combined with the crash in '08 which wiped some of their accumulated wealth, they stayed in the labor market longer than previous generations. The pandemic probably had a great affect on their retirements which may have been more spread out over a number of years, but caused a lot of retirements for a multitude of reasons (lengthy layoff, not wanting to return to the workplace, facing mortality, etc.)

2. Lack of immigrant labor - both because of Trump's policies and fear mongering, and Covid

3. Two income families with children at home with schools closed figuring out how to make it work on one income

4. People scaling back to their main job - Lots of retail, restaurant and bar workers are part-time and work those jobs as a second income. Some may have decided it just wasn't worth the risk to work the second job if they could cover their bills with just one.

5. I'm sure the unemployment benefits play a part - I'm just not sure how much. They were discontinued in June in Ohio and I still see lots of employers complaining that they cannot find workers.

[canetoad]

19. Space jaunts

Probably increase the perception of being nothing but a cog in a machine.

[MichMan]

21. If people have figured out how to live without working, I wish them the best

I never could figure out how to support myself on zero income for very long. Also makes it hard to develop a plan for eventually retirement.

[edhopper]

24. Maybe the choice isn't

grueling, thankless jobs for shit wages or not working at all?