Where did all the people go?

L

Larry$

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There are more help wanted signs than political signs before an election.
The guys that took over my business, when I retired, and where I still have my hobby area, ran an ad for a month. One guy showed up.
They now have two semi loads of MDF to cut for another manufacture. Crowds the shop! That shop has a big panel saw but can't find an operator. Their operator retired when Covid hit.

We just went through quality control checks. They found that our saw cut to as much as .002" over size to .004" under sized and .006" out of square on a 4' panel. We received certification as a provider. 1538, 55" x 145" x 1/4 in sheets to cut. The sheets are hard to handle because they are so floppy. Only going to cut a stack of 5 sheets at a time to reduce the risk of miss aligning them. I've been wondering how much the humidity is going to affect the sizes. In a week or two another semi load is due. Our saw man better get moving.
 
It seems like a lot of people retired with the pandemic. My wife did. She says she may go back to work someday, but not in the same situation as before. I doubt she will.
nationalfund.org

The Great American Walkout | National Fund for Workforce Solutions

The quit rate is the highest it has ever been. The number of people we see quitting today signals a broken economy.
nationalfund.org nationalfund.org

Unemployment is at a 50 year low of 3.6%, so there aren't that many bodies available looking for work. Wages for conventional employment have been stagnant for decades, not even vaguely keeping up with the cost of living.

www.cnbc.com

Home prices are now rising much faster than incomes, studies show

During the pandemic, home prices shot up while household income fell, creating an affordability crisis.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com

For the last century and a half, employers have had the upper hand. Not so much anymore. The internet has made it possible for people to work from home or otherwise generate income in unconventional ways that don't entail the expense of commuting, or even owning a car.

The people are out there, they're just not interested in a 5 day, 40 hour week for $15/hr. with no benefits.
 
I think employers are being weird about hiring, too. They advertise and collect resumes, but only 1 in 10 bothers calling back.

My work unit is down to 40% staffing. It takes at least a year of training and development to be functional in our system. Last new guy arrived 18 months ago, but five left since then. My job requires being on-site at least 1/3 of the time if you are extremely competent. I work from home about one day a month, because I want to be where the work is happening. The young folks out of college don't want to come to an office to provide good service to the organizations we serve.

We were all surprised when the "grey ceiling" that encumbered all the management positions suddenly retired without warning during COVID and the concurrent shift to online communication, the real last nail in the coffin for 80% of the Baby Boomers. Now people with 5 years of experience are applying for jobs that should require 20 years to even qualify for... and getting them.

I have a co-worker leaving soon, which will make me the only journeyman on my team. That will put me at 300% of normal workload, and normal is another 2 positions short already.

We do get plenty of applicants and do plenty of interviews. My organization is large, slow, and taxpayer funded, so by the time job offers are official, the applicants disappear, and the process has to start again.

It would all be so much easier if I could retire. It's almost feasible. I'll give it some thought. Maybe work another few and retire at 50?
 
Many years ago, at 19, I was Union Steward in a Tool And Die department of a well-known factory.
I've been in Management and Executive positions and finally some Consulting in the last 2 decades.
This pendulum swings. Both sides have advantages and gripes. Times change. Sometimes month to month.

There's always a punk that doesn't wanna work. It's that way no matter what the job market might be. Flakes be flakes.

There's always a sucky business model with a chiseling tyrant in charge. It's that way no matter what the job market might be.

My 18 year old grand-daughter just hired onto an Architecture firm - straight outta highschool - for $20/hour. But at $5 gas, maybe $8 soon, that's not a king's ransom, either. She likes it BECAUSE it pays nice, just like YOU liked YOUR first job making some coin you never had. The firm understands that good help (with a tiny bit of skill) is gonna cost a few shekels. Some firms won't ever get that through their head and they'll suffer and complain trying to lowball every applicant.

And then there's the sucky business models. Those are too numerous to describe. Everything. Like the boss that isn't REALLY leading, and Heaven forbid he delegate, but simply a guy that works there with the most power. From that to the Exec that knows nothing about anything except what his spreadsheets - and ultimately his secretary - tells him. And everything in between. Who do they blame? Not themselves; not ever.

And Heaven help you today if you're over 55. 45 in some circles. If you're not in a tightly knit group of Management, you're gonna be out in the cold. Between quotas, stats, and insurance, you're the new undesirable-hire and they have well-crafted ways of discriminating against you because you represent someone that will statistically increase insurance costs and probably not work Saturday for free. Seeya!

I'm not out of the game just yet. Doing some work for a helicopter firm right now. But it's nothing like it's ever been ever before.
 
It’s hard to find anyone to fill the lower paying jobs. Farm workers are especially hard to find. Who can blame them ? I have had to be creative just to keep help. Housing is so expensive in our area that I have been proving housing. Don’t know what I am going to do when he retires. It used to be part of growing up and who you were to have a job. Not any longer. With the dangers of farming and all the regulations it’s hard to hire teenagers no matter even if they grew up on a farm. Looking at where my helps kids are now they don’t want to work that hard. His three girls all have college degrees. One even has her masters.
 
I retired at the end of 2017 and considered finding a part time job, but nobody wants to pay a decent wage for my time. There is a fabrication shop that does CNC and welding I wouldn't mind doing some work for but their starting wage is less than McDonalds or Starbucks and they expect people to work 50 hours a week, part time is not an option. I still have a child in elementary school and have enjoyed my Mr Mom time, so not really interested in full time employment.

I'm staying plenty busy working for my old employer. Between all the fires and their difficultly filling positions I've been working as much as I want, when I want. The past two years I've worked close to full time 6-9 months of the year with far less stress since I have no employees to supervise, no meetings, and no long term expectations. They are just happy to have an experienced employee available to fill a spot. Really the only downside is I'm away from home a lot since most of the work requires travel, but they pay me for that too.

It is a different world that employers are going to have to adapt to or die off.
 
We just got back from a Southwest and Pacific Northwest trip.
Every town we went through had, Help Wanted or Now Hiring signs all over the place.

I just wonder what those people that were working, before Covid, are doing now to eat and pay the rent? Forever Unemployment has stopped and the stimulus checks aren't coming anymore.
There seems to be a lot of employers in this country that can't find help. This starts with low skill jobs to the skilled vocations.

I know I couldn't replace a 20 year veteran auto tech to save my life. Now with the industry changing over to electric vehicles, the shortage will get worse, as traditional automotive mechanical repairs will be slowly dwindling.

I got out at a good time.
 
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