What are the effects on the average consumer? As catastrophic as opponents of higher wages are publicly afraid of?
It's not a labor shortage – it's a wage and workers rights shortage
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Re: It's not a labor shortage – it's a wage and workers rights shortage
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
The competition recruits from the same labor pool, I don't think we misunderstand anything.
The demand may just go elsewhere, like “screw it, I’ll just go to the supermarket”—not sure how plausible that is in a US context specifically, but surely there’s a possible world where the majority of people just stop eating Mexican or even most street food.
We stopped eating out nearly as much during the pandemic and replaced it with higher quality groceries and prepared foods from delivery services.
Re: It's not a labor shortage – it's a wage and workers rights shortage
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same with a bundle of Great Clips a friend manages for a franchisee. Can’t find staff, doesn’t believe staff are worth what the current effective minimum wage is. “Have you tried offering more?” “That’s too much for cosmetology work.” Getting slapped by the invisible hand of the market.
The barber shop I went to for years used to charge $35 for a haircut pre-pandemic, which with a ~$10 tip ($45) already felt real high. Now a haircut is $50 and I no longer go, opting instead to cut my own hair w help from my girlfriend. Maybe people don’t want $50 haircuts.
That's fine, then. We shouldn't assume a certain service or job is productive enough to exist because it used to be in the past. If barbershops need to go the way of horse liveries, that's OK.
Re: It's not a labor shortage – it's a wage and workers rights shortage
#64It's amazing how business seems to understand the free market when it's selling to customers, but can't seem figure out the free market when it comes to hiring labor.
Many of those types of businesses aren’t able to stay afloat with higher labor costs, it’s that dire for them too.
Re: It's not a labor shortage – it's a wage and workers rights shortage
#65It's amazing how business seems to understand the free market when it's selling to customers, but can't seem figure out the free market when it comes to hiring labor.
the government distorting the labor market with increased unemployment benefits isn't the free market Especially when unemployment increased due to government mandated shutdowns
data seems to show that it had a very minimal impact. The “labour crisis” is probably better explained by covid deaths and/or people changing their lifestyles/spending to endure the pandemic
Re: It's not a labor shortage – it's a wage and workers rights shortage
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same with a bundle of Great Clips a friend manages for a franchisee. Can’t find staff, doesn’t believe staff are worth what the current effective minimum wage is. “Have you tried offering more?” “That’s too much for cosmetology work.” Getting slapped by the invisible hand of the market.
The barber shop I went to for years used to charge $35 for a haircut pre-pandemic, which with a ~$10 tip ($45) already felt real high. Now a haircut is $50 and I no longer go, opting instead to cut my own hair w help from my girlfriend. Maybe people don’t want $50 haircuts.
In that case you'd be justified in not paying the tip, surely? The effective price beforehand was $45, since you weren't really tippin, just subsidising the employer.
They just bumped the price by 5 bucks and dispensed with the pricing trickery by paying proper wages.
Re: It's not a labor shortage – it's a wage and workers rights shortage
#67Or maybe it’s a government-benefits surplus. That’s the only thing that’s actually changed.
Is this a reference to the PPP loans? I know a lot of small (and large) businesses received lots of cash injections but I don’t see how business owners having more money leads to fewer hires?
Re: It's not a labor shortage – it's a wage and workers rights shortage
#68I want a news organisation to look at 10 jobs that cannot be filled and compare them to the broader market. As most of the unfillable jobs in my area seem to be manufacturing/outdoor labour that pay as much as retail (which seems a lot nicer) or jobs seeking experienced people at entry level pay.
Here in the UK we had supervisor/management positions trying it on for 0 hour contracts and minimum wage for months, although they seem to have gotten the message now they're having to literally shut their doors because they can't get staff. Worst one I saw was night manager of a massive central hotel for minimum wage. I wonder if it's that people have wisened up to the "take on extra responsibilities for no pay beca…
> I wonder if it's that people have wisened up to the "take on extra responsibilities for no pay because it will look good on your CV" bullshit.
My hypothesis is that a bunch of people in low-paid service jobs like this had their jobs cut under them by the pandemic and were forced to find alternative income streams. That was painful at the time, but now many of those people find themselves in a much stronger position to refuse the work.
Re: It's not a labor shortage – it's a wage and workers rights shortage
#69I’m a little confused, wouldn’t this mean that there are people sitting around who seemingly prefer no job than a lower than they would like paying job?
I don’t understand how all these unemployed people are surviving.
Re: It's not a labor shortage – it's a wage and workers rights shortage
#70Painfully obvious too. My little local Mexcian place will be closing down because of a lack of cooks. Talking to the owner, he was complaining about government benefits, and how they all want $20 an hour. I don't understand it, that you'd either a) be willing to drive your business into the ground serving a limited menu because you won't hire a couple cooks at $20 an hour, or b) have a business so close to the brink…
Most restaurants operate on very slim margins. That's why many smaller financial institutions do not risk commercial loans on them unless they've been established for a while or it's guaranteed by an SBA loan which heavily minimizes the financials risk. Honestly I feel like most people would pay it. It seems to me that everybody just accepts you pay like 10x the price of what you could make something yourself as reas…
Something inexpensive that enables people to pay for not going to the effort to cook relatively tasty food exists everywhere that’s large enough to support the overhead, since before the modern times. It doesn’t have to be particularly good or healthy, but it does exist. In some European cities supermarkets just sell packaged premade salads and pasta, for example.
Personal service might be more expensive overall, but I’m not ready to immediately declare that obvious just because the people behind it are visible to the buyer.