Worker Shortage Cause(s)?

[mangalavara]

But now, they're resorting to actually paying people just to apply.

I guess trickle-down economics is working for after all.

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

I keep hearing anecdotally that the reason there is a shortage of workers in low wage/entry level jobs is because folks can actually make more money on unemployment or other forms of public assistance than if they worked.

Is that accurate?

What other cause(s) might there be for the shortage of workers some industries seem to be having? Please cite your evidence.

It is not accurate, per this article:

Column: Unemployment benefits weren't what kept workers home. The latest crummy jobs report proves it

 

[crossfire]

Who wants to work in an environment where the customers are cruel and abusive when it comes to wearing a mask, where they obviously don't give a rat's *** about your health and well-being? On top of this, add the extra stress of trying to work short-handed for extended periods of time. Politicians who proclaim mask mandates illegal are only adding to the stress these employees face.

 

[Estro Felino]

I hear that before the €, there was so much work for masons or carpenters because the State and local entities used to build 24/7.
After the euro, since the Frankfurt dictatorship called ECB took our monetary sovreignty from us, there are so many willing but unemployed workers.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Who wants to work in an environment where the customers are cruel and abusive when it comes to wearing a mask, where they obviously don't give a rat's *** about your health and well-being? On top of this, add the extra stress of trying to work short-handed for extended periods of time. Politicians who proclaim mask mandates illegal are only adding to the stress these employees face.

It's been this way before the pandemic. Customers abuse retail and food workers. Pay and benefits are crap. Work conditions are crap. Factories and warehouses are often isolating and dreary. Truck drivers are constantly away from home. And the employer holds a very disproportionate amount of power over the workers, who are generally non-union in America (further weakening the workers).
NAFTA and Reaganomics undid the threads of fabrics creating the illusions of this being a good amd desireable system. The end of good jobs and benefits, jobs shipped away, bubbles bursting and crashing and recessions, stagnation, and people are fed up with it.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Tip for employers in a free market economy; pay your staff a decent wage, look after their well-being, treat them with respect, and you will be entitled to expect some loyalty in return.
Alternatively, treat your workers as a disposable asset, pay them so poorly they have to claim benefits or take a second job just to pay their bills, tell them “if you don’t like it you can leave”, then don’t be surprised when they all go elsewhere the first chance they get.

 

[mangalavara]

Tip for employers in a free market economy; pay your staff a decent wage, look after their well-being, treat them with respect, and you will be entitled to expect some loyalty in return.

/ Mr. Burns has left the chat /

 

[PureX]

That's what baffles me too. In this sort of job market, why are employers being like that? For example, one large company my kid worked at actually withheld everyone's first paycheck....just kept them in a safe, for no reason, until the employee bothered to ask. Why? They never said.

I've heard other stories of 10 hour days with no breaks, yet the employer still takes 30 minutes off their time card.....injured employees being forced to keep working....and a host of other things.

It's weird, and I don't really have an explanation for it.

I think there are a couple of reasons. One is that employers have had the upper hand for a very long time. They've gotten used to being able to do as they please without consequences. Wages have not gone up appreciably in many decades, and they think that's how it should always be.

Another is that as our government has become more and more conservative over the last 40 years, worker protections have vanished, and employers have gotten used to being able to force their workers to work harder and longer for the same lousy pay.

But also, a lot of employers are also up against the greed of the super wealthy, and simply don't have the resources to raise pay significantly. The system is rigged to the advantage of the rich. And the richest get the biggest advantage. So if you work for someone or a company that is not very wealthy, they are also being stressed and stretched by the advantages given to wealthier and more powerful companies. Often, a raise in pay to employees would mean a cut in pay to the owners and top management. And of course they will fight against that, very hard.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I keep hearing anecdotally that the reason there is a shortage of workers in low wage/entry level jobs is because folks can actually make more money on unemployment or other forms of public assistance than if they worked.

Is that accurate?

What other cause(s) might there be for the shortage of workers some industries seem to be having? Please cite your evidence.

Unemployment is abymisal here.

Your looking at a couple of hundred a week at best if you don't have payroll insurance for most common workers.

It's obviously the result of mandates that pretty much destroyed people's businesses and jobs.

No one to unload means no one to deliver.

I blame those who are too stupid to see the repercussions down the road that caused this pathetic mess.

Another fine mess....

 

[Secret Chief]

I'm sure it varies by state and nation, but in Illinois, basic benefits are only for 26 weeks--six months--although that has been extended due to the impact of covid.

If one hasn't managed to get employment after (the usual) 26 weeks what happens then? An invitation to lie in the gutter?

 

[Secret Chief]

Tip for employers in a free market economy; pay your staff a decent wage, look after their well-being, treat them with respect, and you will be entitled to expect some loyalty in return.
Alternatively, treat your workers as a disposable asset, pay them so poorly they have to claim benefits or take a second job just to pay their bills, tell them “if you don’t like it you can leave”, then don’t be surprised when they all go elsewhere the first chance they get.

My god, that's like...like rocket science.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

If one hasn't managed to get employment after (the usual) 26 weeks what happens then? An invitation to lie in the gutter?

yeah, at whatever point the benefits end, yes, the recipient is on their own, or needs to get enrolled in some other aid program...

 

[RestlessSoul]

My god, that's like...like rocket science.

Brain surgery actually

 

[Secret Chief]

yeah, at whatever point the benefits end, yes, the recipient is on their own, or needs to get enrolled in some other aid program...

Would that be, say, disability, illness or old age?

 

[Jose Fly]

Many employers are like that, although I've noticed some changes in attitude over the years. Some employers are okay.

When I first entered the job market in 1980, it seemed different back then. Even for jobs at fast-food and other low wage jobs, they took more of a "don't call us, we'll call you" attitude, as if they didn't even really need workers. (And back then, they probably didn't.) But now, they're resorting to actually paying people just to apply.

A lot of these employers have also grown somewhat dependent upon the labor of undocumented immigrants, since they do the jobs that high schoolers used to do - and probably would still do, if they weren't given the cold shoulder and treated like crap by these kinds of employers.

I figure at least part of this whole thing is how the job market fluctuates between a worker-friendly environment, and an employer-friendly one. When jobs are more scarce, employers can treat their employees worse because if the employee objects, the employer can always just hire someone else.

Seems like now we're in a worker-friendly environment, but some employers haven't quite realized it yet.

Is he still working there? It sounds like this employer is breaking the law.

That's illegal as hell. They should gather up as much evidence as they can and take it to the authorities.

If these stories are true, then the explanation is that these businesses are run by greedy criminals.

The good thing is, she's only there for a few months. She's finishing up her undergrad degree, so it's just a part time job to hold her over until she starts her career.

I've advised her and others to do what you suggest (get evidence and file a complaint), but I don't think anyone has. That's the thing when your kids get into their 20's.....you gotta let them run their own lives.

 

[Jose Fly]

I think there are a couple of reasons. One is that employers have had the upper hand for a very long time. They've gotten used to being able to do as they please without consequences. Wages have not gone up appreciably in many decades, and they think that's how it should always be.

Another is that as our government has become more and more conservative over the last 40 years, worker protections have vanished, and employers have gotten used to being able to force their workers to work harder and longer for the same lousy pay.

But also, a lot of employers are also up against the greed of the super wealthy, and simply don't have the resources to raise pay significantly. The system is rigged to the advantage of the rich. And the richest get the biggest advantage. So if you work for someone or a company that is not very wealthy, they are also being stressed and stretched by the advantages given to wealthier and more powerful companies. Often, a raise in pay to employees would mean a cut in pay to the owners and top management. And of course they will fight against that, very hard.

Very well put, and I agree completely!

 

[Shadow Wolf]

No one to unload means no one to deliver.

There are people to load and deliver. There are people hiring for it.
The question is why are people not applying and why are they quitting?

 

[pearl]

As an extra note, one struggle my state has had is not enough child care available. Many daycares went belly up during this, and there was already a shortage to being with. Many parents are not able to return to work at full capacity because of this.

The cost of good child care is just out of reach for any making low wages.

 

[Twilight Hue]

There are people to load and deliver. There are people hiring for it.
The question is why are people not applying and why are they quitting?

There seems to be a lot of dissension over worker hours and low pay.

 

[JustGeorge]

The cost of good child care is just out of reach for any making low wages.

\

Absolutely. When I was a single parent, there was no way I could have afforded childcare. I had non working roommates who helped take care of my son.