What I’ve been saying about the Labor Shortage all along

finance.yahoo.com...

The ongoing labour shortage is threatening Canada's economic growth prospects, a new report says, as more than half of small and medium-sized businesses struggle to find workers.

I believe this is going to be an issue for the next decade," he said. "For the next five to 10 years, millions of baby boomers are going to retire. They're going to be leaving the labour force by the millions, which is why it's very important for businesses to understand this is a long-term issue and adopt different solutions than those you would use if you thought it was a temporary problem."

This link is about Canada but it applies to the US too.
The excuse that the stimulus is keeping people from working will only work so long. Many places have done away with it already and it hasn’t helped labor issues.

I know for my state we have a huge baby boomer population, and they are and have been leaving the workforce. We had this problem pre-covid but everyone wants to ignore that. It is much easier to play the blame game.
This story talks about solutions that many just don’t want to accept.

More automation
More work from home

The other thing we might have to accept is that we need more able bodies. Where those bodies come from is controversial in itself.

I think the next 10 years are going to be really interesting. My tip to everyone, learn how to do things (esp around your house) because you might not be able to hire someone at all. I was talking to a relative about this. Notice how hard it is to get services done around the house, well it’s not going to get better. It is going to get worse. In my area the frustration is just starting. People are complaining about restaurants and stores, and that they can’t find help for their house (at a cheap price).

I just called to get my lawn aerated. They were pushing liquid aeration, I laughed. You can buy it from amazon for 20 bucks. I was like no, I’d like the core aeration, she told me they were booked out until mid November. I laughed again, can’t really aerate frozen ground, and at that date there is almost no point in doing it. The other two places I called to do it have closed their businesses. Not enough labor. So guess what I’m doing this weekend?!

My theory:
Globalist.

Globalist are targeting the lower/middle class.
In the US, they say "we are going to tax the rich" to get people to agree to these out of control spending bills.
They will not tax the rich.
If they really wanted to make a difference, instead of giving the IRS 80 BILLION dollars (to hire 87,000 more agents), to go after $600 transactions they would:
Rewrite the tax code.
Close loopholes.
Get the lobbyist out of congress.
Get congress back in the habit of writing bills, reading bills and then voting on said bills instead of lobbyist writing bills, congress not reading bills and then voting on said bills.
"The American Families Plan" is anything but ...
It is a Globalist plan to finish America off.
They have to bring countries like Canada and the US down and bring other 3rd world countries up (a little).
Listen to any speech given by a western world leader or member of "5 Eyes" and you will hear terms like "level the playing field" or "Bringing other countries up" even "New World Order".
This has been planned for a while and now we are seeing the plan fast tracked.

a reply to: JAGStorm

The whole thing was a set up from the beginning. Wait until people become aware of the fact that all those stimulus checks were just advances on their own money, and that the piper expects to be paid.

The money they made so many think was free, has now come due.

The old folks always told us, "There is nothing free in this world." They also told us, "Never, ever, trust the government".

I too warned that the stimulus checks would be the undoing of many. When are we going to accept the fact that the government is "not" for us? They are agin us.

www.wsj.com...

a reply to: JAGStorm

Here’s the strange part. Everyone knows we have a huge labor issue, yet no one knows exactly who is sitting on their asses at home not working.

All small biz owners in my area are baffled. We see the issue, yet have no where to point the finger. Are these people literally hiding in their basements???

I live in a small tourist town. So everyone pretty much knows everyone. Where are all these lazy asses?

One of the issues we're having in Canada is that boomers are retiring from these jobs that traditionally could support a mortgage, family, kids, cottage, new cars, retirement savings, travel, etc. Those same jobs barely cover rent nowadays. What's the point in working a stressful managerial role when your quality of life is drastically lower than your predecessors?

originally posted by: joejack1949
One of the issues we're having in Canada is that boomers are retiring from these jobs that traditionally could support a mortgage, family, kids, cottage, new cars, retirement savings, travel, etc. Those same jobs barely cover rent nowadays. What's the point in working a stressful managerial role when your quality of life is drastically lower than your predecessors?

what's the option then? Collect government cheese? Prove your worth, then ask for more money, or find a better job. When qualified, hard working people leave, they leave a void that has to be filled. If that void cannot be filled with just anyone, the guy who can fill it, will be worth a premium. Supply and demand economics.

Money is fake, people are the assets. You are the money.

a reply to: JAGStorm

This morning the contractors or should say A contractor arrived to rip up my downstairs flooring and install a new linoleum flooring. This entails ripping out old carpet and old linoleum and patching the floor where needed. I asked when is your helpers arriving?

I'm it he says. What? Everyone on vacation? He says, nope, we are unable to find anyone who wants to work, not even for unskilled manual labor. He also said they have a backlog of work sites going out 9 months. WTF? He says in their 30 year history of business they have NEVER had this problem...it's always been the opposite. They even increased the hourly wage and still cannot get anyone. I live in a tiny rural US town, but have cities to the east & west of me that are within 25 miles. The demographics for the whole area are a mix of very young, many millennials and retired. Many of the restaurants around me, even just take-out only are only open 3-4 days a week. How much longer before we have a full-on collapse? The middle middle-class won't be able to prop up society much longer.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Maybe vax mandates and pushing passports wasnt such a good idea. I am surprised the article doesnt blame the Holy vax mandates.

I've got an idea, do your own floors or roof or driveway. Or pay a premium. If manual labor is so easy, pick up that brick, brush, or hammer.

I do it all day. Good luck.

The problem is that there has been a push for every child t go to college for a long time now, at the peril of teaching kids that they need to go work in Krogers while in HS to get some work/life experience.

So-called dirty jobs are looked down upon as second class, so we need to bring in third world people to pick our strawberries, cuz its beneath us 1st world peeps.


So there ya go....so parents, are you to blame for this?

Yes...yes you are.

originally posted by: network dude
what's the option then? Collect government cheese?

There are several options, although government cheese isn't enough even to live in poverty, so I'm not going to count that.

1) Leave Canada. Lots of talented workers are leaving for the US or Europe.

2) Work less stressful jobs for less pay. We have a ton of manufacturing in Ontario. Toyota starts people at $25/hr. Skilled trades earn $80k/year and up once certified. For example, we have a procurement manager here at work (manufacturing industry). He's really smart, mechanical engineer, hub of activity for the company, huge stress all day long. Well, he's quitting to become an electrician.

3) Multi-generational homes. I'm seeing it already. Boomer parents with millenial kids. The kids are staying at home indefinitely. I know several families whose kids have kids and they all live under the same roof.

4) Businesses going out of business. If you can't pay, you can't play.

5) Be happy with less. There are lots of nice parks in Canada for those who don't mind living in a tent.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
This link is about Canada but it applies to the US too.
The excuse that the stimulus is keeping people from working will only work so long. Many places have done away with it already and it hasn’t helped labor issues.

The recent conference I attended had speakers from the investment sector and they highlighted the low birth rate as a concern for the upcoming two decades. One speaker brought up there are currently 8million people looking for work with 11million jobs available. Setting aside mismatches in talents to jobs that still leaves many more jobs than people.

a reply to: JAGStorm
Have you seen this incentive to get people back to work?

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus


This is a pretty good paper on the subject.

"That is consistent with the fact that the drop in manufacturing and other industrial jobs such as mining accounts for only a small proportion of the non-working class. But explanations for the non-working numbers abound. The proportion of over-25 men in school increased (by seven-tenths of a percentage point) and the share citing “home responsibilities” as a reason for not working inched up by three-tenths of a percentage point between 2004 and 2014. Then there’s the puzzling survey data suggesting that growing numbers of young men simply don’t want to work. More concrete explanations: more men fail drug tests, and more lack skills like simple math and the ability to write a coherent sentence."

This OP kinda goes along with my post on men dropping out of college. It WILL become serious in a couple decades.

www.milkenreview.org...

a reply to: lakenheath24

That citation certainly adds credence to the comment I heard that there are more jobs available than people but there are talent mismatches.

originally posted by: EndtheMadnessNow
a reply to: JAGStorm

This morning the contractors or should say A contractor arrived to rip up my downstairs flooring and install a new linoleum flooring. This entails ripping out old carpet and old linoleum and patching the floor where needed. I asked when is your helpers arriving?

I'm it he says. What? Everyone on vacation? He says, nope, we are unable to find anyone who wants to work, not even for unskilled manual labor. He also said they have a backlog of work sites going out 9 months. WTF? He says in their 30 year history of business they have NEVER had this problem...it's always been the opposite. They even increased the hourly wage and still cannot get anyone. I live in a tiny rural US town, but have cities to the east & west of me that are within 25 miles. The demographics for the whole area are a mix of very young, many millennials and retired. Many of the restaurants around me, even just take-out only are only open 3-4 days a week. How much longer before we have a full-on collapse? The middle middle-class won't be able to prop up society much longer.

It's the linoleum. No one with any sense enjoys installing that crap. I'm sure he has other work, but it really could be as simple as that as it pertains to your example.

I can do it too, but I won't even give someone an estimate. It's such a pain in the rear end.

a reply to: KKLOCO

Disappeared off to the secret space programme and break away civilisation bases!

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus


That, and 75% of eligible men AND women don't qualify for military serve.......75%!

Why? Fat, drunk and stupid. Hmmmm...where have I heard that before?


Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son.

Signed
Dean Wormer

originally posted by: lakenheath24
That, and 75% of eligible men AND women don't qualify for military serve.......75%!

Why? Fat, drunk and stupid. Hmmmm...where have I heard that before?

Wow, I had no idea. Kind of sad considering the ASVAB is a piece of cake.