Why is there suddenly an extremely severe shortage of workers all over the world?

Then do something else that pays enough. There's always been jobs for people with marketable skills. I have no sympathy for someone who is $100,000 in debt because they went to college to get a degree in "Women's Studies" or "Romance languages". I have no sympathy for Communications Majors who can't find work. The same Communications Majors who convinced the University that I attended to disband their Engineering program.

An entry level position is exactly what it says

You are making a lot of generalizations. A teacher isn't an entry level job, and many of them are struggling.
Who are all these millions of people getting Womens studies degrees? I think it is hilarious that is what people want to blame this labor market on.

Also we keep changing the bar as to what is entry level and what isn't. Sure a burger flipper I think we all can agree is entry level right. What about a pre-school teacher? Talk about low paid. Is that entry level? In many cases they have to take courses, they have to have additional skills. That doesn't sound entry level, but they are paid as such.

What about Home health care aids, caretakers etc?...
I don't find it at all odd that these are indeed the jobs that are desperately desperately searching for people.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
A teacher isn't an entry level job, and many of them are struggling.

Depends on who's doing the defining.

Who are all these millions of people getting Womens studies degrees?

Those would be the people who couldn't get a job, got their Teacher's cert, and took an entry level job in education. ... Or, joined the Army as an Officer.

Sure a burger flipper I think we all can agree is entry level right.

Nope. A burger flipper is a high-schooler's job. No one should have ever allowed it to be considered as a $15/hr occupation. That's utterly ludicrous.

I'm not trying to be disagreeable, JAGStorm, I just have a different understanding.

a reply to: Snarl

Entry level = does not require experience, training or higher level of education.

Teaching requires experience, training and education, sometimes extensive.

Nope. A burger flipper is a high-schooler's job. No one should have ever allowed it to be considered as a $15/hr occupation. That's utterly ludicrous.

Nobody would be getting a burger if we expected teens to make burgers. In many states it's illegal for them to use the grill at certain ages, and when they do reach that age (usually 16) there are limits to the actual hours that can be worked.
So what does that leave, adults.

a reply to: JAGStorm


JAG, I agree that some people are harder on young adults than they should be. It isn’t fair IMO.

First I’d like to say to the unsympathetic that the value of a dollar is garbage compared to when I grew up. I’m 56.

Rents are out of control for shacks.

We as a country keep adopting other countries for votes IMO. There is only so much to go around, housing, resources.

This keeps driving up costs. I personally have friends from Syria who are hard working, intelligent people who put in more than their fair share and even they tell me they are shocked and worried for our country and especially whenever Biden speaks! They know war!

My point is. I think it is the right thing to help real refugees fleeing war torn countries. This bullcrap at the Southern Border is just that bullcrap; but if this country is so inclined would it kill then to build more housing or are they just adding more bodies to the sinking ship?

It seems that younger people need at least 4 roommates to get by, and their social skills have been dulled from looking at fake sh#t online constantly.

I really feel for the younger generations, and believe family should help them for as long as they need or want it.

originally posted by: SeriouslyDeep
a reply to: infolurker

In rural and farm communities it isnt considered odd to have three generations living in one home or on one property.

It can be a win-win in certain situations. The parents can save a few dollars by having the kid(s) pay towards household expenses and the kids will save a few dollars by not having to pay expensive rent/housing costs.

My younger son still lives at home and my father in law also lives with us, so someone is always home. No worries about the house if we want to go away for a long weekend, etc.

a reply to: KTemplar

Yes completely agree!!!

It seems that younger people need at least 4 roommates to get by

It has all been planned. Investors buy up affordable houses with cash, hold on and rent them, this also inflates rentals in the area. For a modest 2-3 bedroom where I live is 1500 for basics, for a nicer place 2300. For those saying you could get a mortgage for that amount, well yes, but good luck finding a house. I didn't think housing inventory could get worse but right now there aren't even TEN houses for sale in my area, and this is the selling season! Not even TEN!!!

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: lostatsea

The unemployment rate and labor participation rate in the United States is approaching historic lows, everyone who wants a job has a job and it requires those looking for help to increase salary which is not always occurring. We are shorthanded by around 30% on our service side and these are easy $100K+ STEM positions.

You mentioned something that was completely skipped over by most.

We went through a juncture of history in regards to jobs. People left for many reasons.
They didn’t need a job
They retired early
They went to a one income family
They upgraded their jobs
They are too afraid of Covid
They have long term Covid
Etc. many other reasons.

But you hit the nail on the head for everyone else, when you said some employers refuse to increase salary.
Employers have not been loyal to employees for a long time and now that employees have flipped the switch employers are all mad. I think it is HILARIOUS.

Hopefully some meaningful industry evolves at the grassroots level and the old megaliths topple to the new growth. Freedom of industry.

There is no labor shortage. Companies have been forced to pay nearly double for minimum wage which means they can't afford to pay as many employees, especially after some of them took a beating due to being closed for 6 months or longer because of the "thing". They are employing as few people as possible, they are closing earlier than before, and they are holding on to as much money as possible because they know what's coming.

Some people have been forced out of the workforce because of certain mandates but come on, people haven't just decided to stop working, especially when those that were working for 8-12 bucks an hour can now make 15-18 bucks an hour. The extended unemployment benefits have ended, there is no extra lifeline at the moment. It's all just a bunch of BS.

I have a Best Buy, a Home Depot, and. Starbucks near me. I am a regular at all of them so I have a good relationship with some of the employees there. The Starbucks literally only employs 6 people, they refuse to hire any more, and they never schedule more than one person for the evening/closing shift.

The Home Depot started letting people go about 18 months ago causing the garden center to close early and almost never have registers open. The employees all say the same thing, that Home Depot keeps letting people go and never hires anyone to take their place. The Best Buy never has more than 3 people working at checkout and usually it's just 2.1 person handling online order pickups, the other one or two handling in store purchases.

A lot of businesses, big and small, are struggling after the BS from the last 2 years, now those same businesses have to pay 30-50% more per employee, it's not sustainable.

Instead of just blindly believing every damn thing they are told, people just need to open their eyes and look around for a minute. If there was such a labor shortage we would all know a handful or more of people in our personal lives who just decided to quit working and instead just sit home while defaulting on all their bills. Is that what we are all seeing?

a reply to: peter_kandra

It can be a win win as long as everybody has their own personal space,

a reply to: SeriouslyDeep

None can be #ed working anymore .. im barely hanging on myself and I work at
home permanently now.

originally posted by: Jason79
In the US is was stimulus checks, student debt pause, and child tax credits. The student debt pause has been extended and Romney is trying to restore the child tax credit payments.

So the government is creating a welfare state by pausing peoples biggest debt and paying people a few hundred dollars a week per child.

At what point will robotics make human work counterproductive from a resource expenditure aspect?

If the biggest debts are greedy elites and after feathering all their nests, less of left than a few hundy..

Which is better?

Tax dollars paying someone 30k in help to make 25k in income?

The problem is that companies big and small found out that they could get by with less employees and still get the job done. They are telling the employees they have who are working more hours, with no time off and had to learn other jobs and multi task with the same pay that nobody wants to work. That’s a lie. The companies just do not want to hire anybody even though they put out ads and say they are. This will continue this until employees wake up to the fact that they are doing more and getting paid less. It’s hard to get employers to give you more after they have taken it away. a reply to: SeriouslyDeep

a reply to: SeriouslyDeep

There's no need to use the word 'extremely', when you are already using a word like 'severe'.

The word 'severe' already contains the implication of 'something extreme'. It's a useless hyperbole that does not belong there, it's like saying 'very extreme', does that make sense to you?

a reply to: JAGStorm

Also we keep changing the bar as to what is entry level and what isn't. Sure a burger flipper I think we all can agree is entry level right. What about a pre-school teacher? Talk about low paid. Is that entry level? In many cases they have to take courses, they have to have additional skills. That doesn't sound entry level, but they are paid as such.

No, no one is changing the definition. It's simply that some positions do not pay well. Let's look at pre-school teachers (or teachers in general for that matter).

A teacher is not an entry-level position. That would be perhaps a teacher's aide. The reason teachers are so poorly paid is that most teachers work for the government... public schools. They are not paid by those they serve, but by those who represent those they serve. Thus, their value is filtered through that extraneous level of bureaucracy.

College instructors are paid better... but they typically require a Master's degree (often a Doctorate to be considered seriously) instead of the public schools around here which require only a Bachelor's degree.

There are also non-monetary advantages to being a teacher. Three months paid summer holiday. Tenure (which means their job is super secure). And the best teachers i have known say they get a good feeling from knowing they are helping the children.

When I sent my kid to school, I wasn't able to decide who I wanted their teacher to be. The school hired them and unless I was wealthy enough to put them in a private school or had the time to home-school them, I had no choice but to accept that. I had no say-so in how much they were paid; the school board decided that. Heck, it was like pulling teeth to even get to speak at a school board meeting, and then all that did was make the meeting last longer!

By contrast, if I need to hire an electrician, I have options. I decide who gets to do the job, based on their reputation and cost. If necessary, I can do the work myself and not use their professional services. That means electricians who do good work can charge more for their services, and those who charge too much will be forced to drop their wages or spend their days twiddling their thumbs for free.

Low pay does not equal entry level. Entry level as you indicate means one can do the job with a minimum of expertise, talent, or experience. Sometimes entry level positions can become more lucrative; sometimes they cannot. It all depends on the job. No one is forced to accept a job; everyone who has ever been hired for a position has asked to be hired, and everyone who works a position knew what that position paid before they accepted it.

And no one is being forced to stay with a poor job.

That's not top say there aren't situations where it is far preferable to work for less-than-optimal pay in "grunt" jobs... I have done so on several occasions. It simply means that one does have a choice. And if one does find themselves in need of one of those entry-level jobs out of desperation, there is nothing preventing them from continuing to look for a better job.

Life just ain't easy. There are 5 billion or so people on this planet, and every one of them is looking for a bigger, better deal for themselves. There's also just not enough resources on this planet to let everyone have everything they want. We must compete to thrive. I don't like that any more than you do, but I can't change it any more than you can. All any of us can do is try to make things a little better in what time we have... and just like my Dad, that takes a LOT of work.

What about Home health care aids, caretakers etc?...
I don't find it at all odd that these are indeed the jobs that are desperately desperately searching for people.

Caretaker is a job position? Around here, being a caretaker simply means you are caring for someone... you might or might not get paid (usually not). I was caretaker for my mother for several years; I got paid nothing. I did it because it was my duty and honor to care for my parents the way they had once cared for me... but I was put through pure hell over doing it by those who preferred to take advantage of her situation.

I never received any paycheck or any benefits. I took some of those "grunt" jobs so I could be home when needed. But that was my decision and I do not regret one moment of it.

I am a bit confused how anyone could be a "professional" caretaker?

TheRedneck

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

In the two closest school districts near me 47% earn $90K with benefits.

a reply to: LastFirst

A socialist government would be providing everything for everyone, there would be no need for salary. Therefor efficiency of work would be irrelevant. In the olden days the USSR would pass out brooms and people would spend their day sweeping streets.

And those elites you mentioned, the smart ones will still be running things because they have the knowledge and know-how. The dumb ones will refuse to trade fiat currency for power.

a reply to: SeriouslyDeep

I think it might be BS. Many people reporting that they are having a hard time finding a job.

I think worker shortages seem to only be in the fast food and restaurant sector for whatever reason.

a reply to: nOraKat

You haven't looked too hard at the manufacturing job situation. My Company is paying $1,500 for a referral and paying the employee $1,500 after 90 days.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Average on market time in my county in Florida is 7 days. People are offering up to 100k over asking right now. It is insane.

1b/1b 900 bucks and it is a shared home most times. 3-5 bedrooms. You cannot find anything and we are one of the largest growing counties in the nation.

There are tons of jobs but no one is working. It is not worth it almost. If you are busting your ass in an entry job for 300-400 bucks a week and rent is 900 it is hard to survive. If you want a car being young it is about 200 a month if you won it outright and almost 5 dollar gas. WTF are they eating

Can some do it? Yes, but it is harder right now for the new generation than it ever has been in the modern era.

The government has almost made everyone equal it seems....middle class in many areas is gone.