(10-12-2021 09:38 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(10-12-2021 09:31 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(10-12-2021 09:23 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(10-12-2021 09:16 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  

(10-12-2021 09:11 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  True - I thought it was clear that my post was in response to the bigger picture and the article you posted, not specifically Target. Apparently not, though.


I don't think this matters in regards to the current labor shortage. A lot of the shortages we experienced this summer were around seasonal positions, especially in the "entertainment" industry. Things like restaurants/bars, tourist shops, etc.

Here's an article from the local NPR station about the issues in the Outer Banks this summer: https://www.wunc.org/business-economy/20...mmer-covid


We're about to see similar struggles in winter vacation areas:


https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/21/politics/...index.html


Yep, market forces have finally caused a rise in wages because labor has finally found a seat at the table. I agree that this will largely negate the specific $15 MW campaign issue, unless wages start to fall.

Its not that 'labor has ... a seat at the table." I guess that 'seat at the table' will get yanked when many decide to rejoin the working world. In that sense, the rise in wages is more a factor of 'more labor not being at the table' than it 'being at the table'.

Yeah, not the most elegant analogy, but the point remains. Labor is actually exerting its influence in a way that it hasn't for decades.

But it is "at the table" in the sense that some have decided to forgo certain jobs for others, and the pandemic was the primary springboard for that.

But perhaps we'll see some people who are currently out of the labor market because of the expanded benefits jump back in once they run out of reserves they created. I think we're looking at bigger, societal issues, and like I said, I think child care is a big one.

I think a lot of what we are seeing is people who have decided to forego ANY job in favor of NO job. This is supported by the by the unemployment rate, which dropped only because a large chunk f people took themselves out of the job market.

Child care has always been an issue. It was an issue to me in 1976, when my wife wanted to return to work. It was an issue to my parents in 1954, when my mother wanted to take a job.

Care to take a guess at the change in the number of households with two working parents? Same for workforce participation by women?

Both of those changes combine to create a greater need for childcare for, what I hope, are obvious reasons.

And this gets to your first comment about why some people are forgoing ANY job in favor of NO job. We should look at why people are taking themselves out of the labor market all together and address those issues. We've already stopped increased unemployment benefits, but we have not yet seen a major rebound in labor. I recommend we look at childcare and find ways to get people who are raising children (who happen to be overwhelming women) back into the work force.

I am more concerned with the number of households with zero working parents. That seem to be a demo with a big uptick lately

Point is, people who want to work find a way. In 1976 our solution was for me to move my office to our house, so I could meet the kids at the bus and watch them myself. In 1954 my parent's solution was to hire a Mexican maid from across the river to housekeep and baby sit me(8) and my two younger sisters (5 and 1). It seems that people today are not wanting to find solutions - they either want the solution handed to them on a silver platter or they just quit working.

If I thought childcare was THE major reason people are not rejoining the workforce, I would support finding a solution - but a lot of people NOT applying for those $15 jobs are childless.