The Great Labor Shortage Debate

terry123 said:
There was a news story here on tv about a local restaurant trying to reopen and cannot find workers. They are going to offer bonuses to attract help. There are several fast food places here on the street where I live that are short of workers. A friend of mine brings me a breakfast sandwich when he gets his and some of the places were not open at the designated time because the workers did not show up. He called the number on the door to ask about it and the owner was very upset and said he could not find people to work any more.
I remember when I was trying to raise two girls by myself while working two jobs and I was grateful for any work I could get.
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Supply and Demand. Economics 101. It applies to workers just as much as it applies to apples, toasters and cars. My guess is that we will see an influx of workers in September when the schools finally open up full time again. But, with the Feds spending money as though there is no tomorrow and no need to pay it back, the demand for people will keep the labor market tight. Just my guess. I could be wrong.
 

Covid expanded unemployment ended yesterday for a lot of states. It'll be interesting to see the impact.
 
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911 said:
Higher wages equal higher costs to the consumers, but people need to be making more than what some of the jobs are paying.
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Exactly 911. I recently read an article about the shortage of restaurant workers who sometimes work long hours for dismal pay. They were reluctant to return to work under those circumstances while unemployment was available. I read an article yesterday in which Bernie Sanders is calling for the minimum wage for "tip workers" to finally be raised after 30 years. It's stayed at $2.30 an hour. People who say that workers need to get back to work don't seem to realize that if unemployment is paying $1,200 a month and parents can stay home with their children but their jobs are netting (only) $1,200 a month and they have to pay 1/3 (or more) of that for childcare...which option to choose is a no brainer. Now that some states have stopped the unemployment benefits early (they were supposed to go to September), it's going to be a hard choice for many parents. Another thing...parents who leave their minor children home so they can go to work face being arrested for neglect. Talk about a rock and a hard place.
 

I have seen lots of signs saying, " We're hiring". So far, all those jobs don't have titles like Vice President in Charge Of... It's minimum wage jobs. Wages have been frozen for way too long. Yes, I know, the country is going to hell in a hand basket, if we raise the minimum wage. But the current minimum wage was also supposedly an economic disaster. It's called supply and demand. If you need a bodies bad enough, you'll find a way to pay for them.
 
Fast food restaurants pay $7.50 per hour in the USA. In Denmark and other parts of Europe they pay $22 per hour for the same work. Do the same here and there will be no "labor shortage".
 
oldiebutgoody said:
Fast food restaurants pay $7.50 per hour in the USA. In Denmark and other parts of Europe they pay $22 per hour for the same work. Do the same here and there will be no "labor shortage".
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But their income tax is way, way higher.

For a long time employers, especially franchise business owners, only offered part-time positions, saving them a bunch of money on employee benefits; health insurance, paid vacation, sick leave, etc. To get people back to work, businesses need to make all positions full-time, save for the very few that were always traditionally part-time.
 
Murrmurr said:
But their income tax is way, way higher.

For a long time employers, especially franchise business owners, only offered part-time positions, saving them a bunch of money on employee benefits; health insurance, paid vacation, sick leave, etc. To get people back to work, businesses need to make all positions full-time, save for the very few that were always traditionally part-time.
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Higher taxes but they get universal health care, remain employed, and have secure lives. That's what we need here in the USA.
 
oldiebutgoody said:
Higher taxes but they get universal health care, remain employed, and have secure lives. That's what we need here in the USA.
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Oh, sure, they get all that stuff, and free college, too, but they're heavily taxed and rent is high. Many of them live with their parents.
I know a bunch of kids there...young adults, I should say. They have many of the same complaints that young adult Americans do.
 
Heck, I read where something like 35% of American adults live with their parents and the number is climbing. We would be better off if we adopted the European model.
 
Murrmurr said:
Dude, I think you should move to Europe, seriously.
Personally, I'd rather do whatever I can to make life better here.
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Growing up in NY, many folks there told me I should have been brought up in Europe as I am very European in the things I like and in my outlook on life.

Meanwhile, folks here should realize that things like Social Security, universal health care, free education, etc are not European in origin nor are they Marxist. They were first promoted by our Founding Fathers long before Marx was born. Strangely, Europeans adopted those ideas while Americans ignored them. No small coincidence that Euros created them with money they got from the American financed Marshall Plan - we spent money to promote these things while ignoring our needs at home . Very ironic, indeed.
 
oldiebutgoody said:
Growing up in NY, many folks there told me I should have been brought up in Europe as I am very European in the things I like and in my outlook on life.

Meanwhile, folks here should realize that things like Social Security, universal health care, free education, etc are not European in origin nor are they Marxist. They were first promoted by our Founding Fathers long before Marx was born. Strangely, Europeans adopted those ideas while Americans ignored them. No small coincidence that Euros created them with money they got from the American financed Marshall Plan - we spent money to promote these things while ignoring our needs at home . Very ironic, indeed.
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It's no coincidence, however, that America grew and prospered on all fronts faster than any nation or province on the entire globe.
 
Murrmurr said:
It's no coincidence, however, that America grew and prospered on all fronts faster than any nation or province on the entire globe.
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Yup. By stealing lands which did not belong to them, exploiting slave labor, having access to limitless resources including farm lands and rivers with an almost endless amount of fish and animals to hunt and to eat for free, etc.
 
oldiebutgoody said:
Yup. By stealing lands which did not belong to them, exploiting slave labor, having access to limitless resources including farm lands and rivers with an almost endless amount of fish and animals to hunt and to eat for free, etc.
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Yep. Same way other countries started all throughout history.
 

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