Good analysis of what the “nobody wants to work” meme actually means. It’s not that people don’t want to work, it’s that they don’t (to put it crudely) want to work a shitty job fort shitty pay at a shitty employer. Particularly when the cost of working exceeds the pay. People simply aren't that desperate anymore.
Of course as you point out, the shortage of workers is a complex problem that requires multiple strategies. Along with the issues you raised, I’d add that pretty anyone who can retire is retiring. In the middle of the pandemic, I interviewing a state labor commissioner for a story and he said his department was losing a large number of experienced staff to retirement that would be hard to replace.
There are also multiple other problems like lack of job training, the high cost of college, barriers to employment like anti-competitive licensure requirements among others. Add to that constrained immigration and you have the makings of a workforce too small to meet the needs of the economy.
One issue that’s getting a lot of attention among colleges is the shrinking pool of high school age students -- due to declining birthrates. Fewer students are not only closing weaker colleges, but it also means fewer workers for the future.
Good analysis of what the “nobody wants to work” meme actually means. It’s not that people don’t want to work, it’s that they don’t (to put it crudely) want to work a shitty job fort shitty pay at a shitty employer. Particularly when the cost of working exceeds the pay. People simply aren't that desperate anymore.
Of course as you point out, the shortage of workers is a complex problem that requires multiple strategies. Along with the issues you raised, I’d add that pretty anyone who can retire is retiring. In the middle of the pandemic, I interviewing a state labor commissioner for a story and he said his department was losing a large number of experienced staff to retirement that would be hard to replace.
There are also multiple other problems like lack of job training, the high cost of college, barriers to employment like anti-competitive licensure requirements among others. Add to that constrained immigration and you have the makings of a workforce too small to meet the needs of the economy.
One issue that’s getting a lot of attention among colleges is the shrinking pool of high school age students -- due to declining birthrates. Fewer students are not only closing weaker colleges, but it also means fewer workers for the future.