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Tahoe's hiring crisis is unraveling small businesses during its busiest season

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Re: Tahoe's hiring crisis is unraveling small businesses during its busiest season

#151

Post by xref »

ActorNightly wrote: post #127
aazaa wrote: post #96

> “You put an ad out and nobody even interviews,” Wilderotter said, echoing Barrios. That's because you're not offering enough money. Raise it by 20%, 50%, 200%. Keep raising it until you get qualified applicants. You will eventually find a price that attracts the people your business needs. And if that price is too high to turn a profit and there's no other way, shut down. Article after article with business owners…

The issue is that a lot of places are ran on thin profit margins. You would have to raise the price of goods, which then means you have to raise the quality of goods as well to outcompete highly optimized chain restaurants.

> You would have to raise the price of goods, which then means you have to raise the quality of goods

You use the same ingredients as the day before: “This is the price of a steak in Lake Tahoe now.”

Re: Tahoe's hiring crisis is unraveling small businesses during its busiest season

#152

Post by twright »

rfwhyte wrote: post #131

Housing is the crux of this problem and is an issue so intractable, I genuinely don't see a solution. The way the housing market across much of the western world is the way that now is, is because rich people made it that way, and they have all the influence, power and control now, so nothing us small folk can do will likely change things in any meaningful way. Housing has become a commodity, an investment, and so th…

> so nothing us small folk can do will likely change things in any meaningful way

A lot of people feel this way, a plurality one might even say, more is possible than despair leads us to think. “[Capitalism’s] power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings.”

Re: Tahoe's hiring crisis is unraveling small businesses during its busiest season

#153

Post by axaxs »

andrew_ wrote: post #139
andrew_ wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please be more nuanced in your replies when painting with a wide brush. Florida is absolutely exploding right now, and there's so much housing construction here that one can expect to wait for months for contractor availability. I've been in three of the five major FL cities in the past few months and while there are a lot of "help wanted" signs, businesses are open and busier than ever. What's hurting this region is…

I love HN. Anecdotal evidence that goes against the accepted narrative will be downvoted to oblivion. Anecdotal evidence that supports the narrative is praised.

I mean... you're being rather confrontational for no reason IMO.

The topic is about staffing shortages in one city. I laid out my experience seeing this same thing elsewhere. And two different people tell you they see it in Florida.

Instead of adding your input, which is valid, you seem to contest everyone else.

That's my opinion. But I didn't downvote you, as I cannot.

I'm glad Tampa doesn't have the same issue most other cities in the US are seeing. You are lucky, it causes a lot of nagging issues.

Re: Tahoe's hiring crisis is unraveling small businesses during its busiest season

#154

Post by axaxs »

andrew_ wrote: post #137
axaxs wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm unsure what you're asking of me...please clarify? I've traveled in or through Asheville, Greenville, Savannah, Knoxville, Jacksonville, and noticed it. Savannah was probably the worst, and it is not a high cost area, at all. I live in Florida. There's a burger king near me that is just...empty. Lights on, nobody there. The 7/11 near me has one employee. He runs 3 registers to keep the line moving. I see him train…

I didn't ask a question. So your milage varies - not surprising. My experience differs vastly with yours. I've yet to see an understaffed establishment in the Tampa Bay area, nor the three metro areas in FL I've been in recently. Different experience, doesn't make it any less valid.

You asked me to be more nuanced. Or told me. I'm just asking what you meant by that specifically.

Re: Tahoe's hiring crisis is unraveling small businesses during its busiest season

#155

Post by bsder »

rfwhyte wrote: post #131

Housing is the crux of this problem and is an issue so intractable, I genuinely don't see a solution. The way the housing market across much of the western world is the way that now is, is because rich people made it that way, and they have all the influence, power and control now, so nothing us small folk can do will likely change things in any meaningful way. Housing has become a commodity, an investment, and so th…

> so nothing us small folk can do will likely change things in any meaningful way.

Small folks DO have the ability to make change--it's called a labor strike. And, while the little people aren't thinking of it this way, that is precisely what is happening right now.

Re: Tahoe's hiring crisis is unraveling small businesses during its busiest season

#156

Post by sandworm101 »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #147
sandworm101 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should rent be higher than mortgage costs? Why should renters pay down principal, effectively purchasing the property for the landlord? In the past, landlords owned property and rented it out. If there was a mortgage, rent covered the interest payments rather than principal (interest rates were once far higher than today) and rents were generally lower than mortgage costs. If rent is higher than mortgage costs, t…

> In the past, landlords owned property and rented it out. If there was a mortgage, rent covered the interest payments rather than principal (interest rates were once far higher than today) and rents were generally lower than mortgage costs. Got a citation for this claim? During my 32 years living in the USA, and the 25 before that in the UK and elsewhere, I was never aware of rent working this way. The difference be…

Comercial property. Tenants are regularly responsible for repairs, insurance and upgrades. Do you really think a landlord will pay to remodel a space to suit each new tenant, to covert it from one use to another? Landlords dont pay for new decor or new equipment. They rent out the space. For a typical restaurant everything from chairs and cieling tiles to ovens and insurance is the tenants responsability. That big sign out front of every business isnt biuld by the landlord.

Re: Tahoe's hiring crisis is unraveling small businesses during its busiest season

#157

Post by spaetzleesser »

listless wrote: post #149
spaetzleesser wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"its not the worker paying that difference, its the wealthier customers." Exactly.

What if it becomes widespread? And every restaurant raises wages to attract workers while also raising prices? In other words, we need some people to be paid very little to produce the cheap food for these hire paid food service workers. Where is the bottom?

Something seems to be fundamentally wrong with an economy where we think that we need people to work in jobs that are paid so little that these people can't make a living. and it's viewed as a problem to raise their incomes.

This while at the same time some people are becoming very rich and the country considers itself very wealthy.

Re: Tahoe's hiring crisis is unraveling small businesses during its busiest season

#158

Post by browningstreet »

spaetzleesser wrote: post #29

"Meanwhile, Barrios told me that his landlord is about to increase the rent on the place where he lives, from $1,100 to $1,600" How can this rent increase be justified other than with unlimited greed? And the same people are surprised that people don't want to stay in a job with stagnant wages while their costs are rising at incredible opace.

Because the landlord heard from other landlords that they’re getting similar rates now.

I moved from Reno to SF to Reno through the pandemic. Houses that were $1600 two years ago are $3000/mo now. I can afford it, sure… but it’s not really a $3000 house, the $2000 houses are even worse, and the locals getting local wages are really going to struggle to get decent housing at a decent rate.

I fully expect my rent to get raised when my lease is up, and there’s little inventory to move to. It’ll just rise and rise.

At some point the equity game may start to follow the GME trends and crash, but CA homeowners showing up in NV with cash are really distorting the market. And landlords are seeing their house prices go up $50-100K in 90 days and calculating what they should be charging for rent off that. A lot of these houses were bought more than 3 years ago, so the rental margins qualify more as takings than real market value.

Re: Tahoe's hiring crisis is unraveling small businesses during its busiest season

#159

Post by kvonhorn »

cushychicken wrote: post #49

He has one cook right now, who is working overtime and extra shifts. That cook should be asking for a raise, right now. His angle: "If you pay me more, I can probably find someone else I know to come work here."

I think his angle is "I can shut down the entire business if I leave."

Re: Tahoe's hiring crisis is unraveling small businesses during its busiest season

#160

Post by 29083011397778 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #65
sandworm101 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sold my soul to the company store. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_scrip There was good reason to do away with such concepts.

> the company store Night and day. Company doesn’t own the home. Company doesn’t own the stores you shop at.

Directly from the article, some business owners are doing better than others because they house [some to a majority of] their workforce.

Sure, you're missing the company owning the church, but fewer Americans are religious now. The employer also doesn't own all the local stores, but "It's not a company town because the stores are owned by people that all know each other (due to it being a small town), instead of one individual" is a little too close to be comfortable to me.

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