The Great Labor Shortage

[Uncle June]

same question as above. but i'll force you to also answer if i could just cold call your place of work and ask if they're hiring.

Not sure where your locale is, but job fairs, social media postings, the usual indeed posting, etc. are all in effect here. I'd be willing to venture that, yes, you could cold call and ask. Nobody does it anymore, and given the overwhelming need for workers, that employer might bite.

Or you could make it easy on yourself and create a LinkedIn. I get job offers every month, and I haven't instigated once. Not trying to be a braggy cunt, but recruiters are in every industry right now, especially unskilled ones.

 

[56 others]

Its getting worse again... im up to 10 headhunter emails a week...
they are all looking for people in production, i guess they shuffled alot of people into R&D when Covid fucked the supply chain and now nobody wants to go back.

also at work we are looking for a bunch of truck drivers, we were using Temp agencies for a decade but those are all dried up now.

We had to contract a lot of stuff out to Swift. Less criminals, more Eastern Euros now.

 

[Pandy Fackler]

Thinking that having all your temporal needs taken care of by other people in exchange for sitting at home and touching a computer is pretty fucking entitled and it's weird that you're phrasing it like it's such a small thing to ask. Farming is hard. Building houses is hard. Running a power plant is hard. You're living in the only time in human history where people, for whatever reason, might think that your computer-touching is worth farming and mining and building and doing whatever else on your behalf.

You should show a little more gratitude.

The computer niggers shall meet their fate on the Mythras bone piles soon!

 

[Stoneheart]

We had to contract a lot of stuff out to Swift. Less criminals, more Eastern Euros now.

Problem is that most of them dont have the qualification we need from our truckdrivers.

 

[Mr. Skeltal]

Not sure where your locale is, but job fairs, social media postings, the usual indeed posting, etc. are all in effect here. I'd be willing to venture that, yes, you could cold call and ask. Nobody does it anymore, and given the overwhelming need for workers, that employer might bite.

Or you could make it easy on yourself and create a LinkedIn. I get job offers every month, and I haven't instigated once. Not trying to be a braggy cunt, but recruiters are in every industry right now, especially unskilled ones.

LinkedIn does work, I get offers there (and Indeed) somewhat regularly. The big thing is curating your resume. Networking also helps but make sure your resume is chock full of industry buzzwords

A neat little trick is to use a given position's requirements as filler text instead of line breaks to trick hiring algorithms. Color it white and the people won't be able to tell while the machine puts you forward as the bees knees.
If companies are willing to fuck applicants over in a labor shortage then no harm no foul in pulling a fast one on their HR departments.

 

[Tiggletown]

My house is walkable to my work campus, technically my job is 100% remote outside of big meetings or emergencies but I still go in often because my office is quieter than my house and they have snacks.

Wife still doesn't really understand the "work" part of work from home and will just come in and try and talk to me at my home office, same with the kids.

 

[LatinasAreTheFuture]

Every time I leave my hovel I hear one or two more whispered voices of discontent about the "general state" of our Banana Republic. People are waking up to an extent, but no one is suffering enough to act on it.

Act? And do what exactly? Gets a job?

 

[兄貴 Forevermore]

The problem we're having in the manufacturing sector is we cant get bodies in the door, and when we do, only a third make it through the 6 month trainee period (almost all quit)

How much do you fucking pay? I'd quit my ag job if I'd earn more than my current just to learn some life skills in machine shop work my father never taught me.

also at work we are looking for a bunch of truck drivers, we were using Temp agencies for a decade but those are all dried up now.

Walk into to your local (volunteer) fire department and ask, most US states require them to be Class B to drive the engine and if no accidents within a time frame (1-2 years) it can be upgraded to class C relatively easily.

If you're looking for hazmat or some other specialty license though you're shit out of luck.

Act? And do what exactly? Gets a job?

Bitch, moan, and do nothing.

 

[Stoneheart]

Walk into to your local (volunteer) fire department and ask, most US states require them to be Class B to drive the engine and if no accidents within a time frame (1-2 years) it can be upgraded to class C relatively easily.

im not in the US and we need truckers with extra qualifications and they shouldnt be new in the field.
some of the chemicals are very very explosive.

 

[DiscoRodeo]

I only have anecdote from speaking to several people who you could call neets. but my personal theory is that the combined past +10 years has completely shattered the social contract for many. this phenomenon was already present in statistics like the amount of young people opting to be single or depression/suicide rates. not to mention this has already been happening in inner cities and rural areas for decades. now a previously productive segment of america is disenfranchised too and the media notices bc this country has no soul beyond the stock market.
might be helpful to flip the question as, if someone is ok with a lower standard of living, what entices them to take any of these jobs? the carrot is gone and they don't feel the stick anymore.

Another key thing to remember is that a ton of baby boomers retired during/shortly after the pandemic. This (potential) labor shortage was something in the works for awhile but never occurred because they hung on to their jobs. That lake house bill doesn’t pay itself!

This is basically what explains it in part. A large chunk of why we have a labor shortage is because the pandemic provided incentive for a plethora of people to either retire, or to seek out alternative (lower paying) labor.

What I'm basically implying by that is that for many people who were considering retirement, and had the funds, the pandemic provided the final push for these boomers to retire. Now, many of said boomers will have to reenter the workforce, but even so- its a calculated thing, where some boomers are simply taking jobs that offer more freedom (ie, more flexible and less hours) with more limited pay, to supplement their retirements.

What this does signify is that a lot of the higher level jobs, the more technical jobs, or the more knowledge intensive jobs (management, project managers, high finance, etc) are in greater demand and theres a massive hole in the labor market there.

To get back to Kaede's point, I think that youre right and the "social contract" of capitalism has been broken. This is the second great recession Ive seen in my lifetime, and in the months before the pandemic was full force, I just remember how depressing that notion was. The old paradigm in capitalism is that you save your money, you invest in yourself or a business, and you progress yourself further. Looking at so many local businesses just go under has sapped the notion of "open your own store", and seeing as how education is more of a racket than an asset, Im rather black pilled there. Add in that any savings have the potential to be lost within a decade (2008 - covid 19 are only a decade apart) and even savings, investments, etc come under question.

Im not saying give up on capitalism, or yourself, but just- the notion that the system actually works? That is completely gone. Its more dog eat dog now, and luck than its ever been.

Something I was just thinking: what is the age breakdown of the unemployed? I could see a large majority of the unemployed being millenials that were forced to move back in with parents during covid and ended up just saying "fuck it, mommy and daddy will take care of my ass"

That's it in part, but unemployment only lasts so long. Id highlight that labor shortages being a result of boomers retiring has greater effect, honestly.

A good chunk of this labor shortage is the result of businesses raising the hiring requirements too high without raising the wages for those jobs.

Meaning, you have tons of places where what would normally be entry-level jobs are now seeking people with degrees, and experience, and won't hire those who don't, but are expecting people who have them to work for fucking peanuts.

To be entirely transparent, a lot of the requirements listed are just a wish list. Stating that, you are right- the old paradigm was that people would be willing to train newbies, and newbies would have some level of company loyalty (or at least stay on for several years if trained). Somewhere along the line, that paradigm ended. Id suspect it was cutting costs to compete, but because of an abundance of workers as well (some from the third world and developing world) people are just hiring without the intention of ever training.

It's a frustrating Gordian Knot of a problem, in my view. There's no real way to approach this, or to fix this, without hoping that there's a total collapse and something forces a change. With the collapse of a proper industrial base, the problems of the 2008 Financial Crisis never really being solved, and the erosion of the social contract between employers and employees, we've essentially forced entire generations into something akin to "gig work," where jobs that ought to be entry-level gigs for high schoolers, college students, and those looking to supplement their income become the primary job for people who need to pay rent, pay gas, pay taxes.

its not going to get solved. Its going to get worse. Boomers retiring is only going to gut things more and more, and people just dont want to train/millennials have been fucked around far too much for any sort of brand loyalty (social contracts been broken way too many times).

Expect these jobs not to fill (in part) and previous services to be more difficult to get, frankly. Its just tough times ahead

 

[兄貴 Forevermore]

im not in the US and we need truckers with extra qualifications and they shouldnt be new in the field.
some of the chemicals are very very explosive.

I see.
They'd do it in the US anyways. Just look at the Texas (Illegal) idiot who killed several coming out of the mountains into Denver.
Yeah and those are a nightmare to fight. My greatest fear out as a volunteer FF here is methlab explosion, getting shot/stabbed (see no 1), or death by gas explosion from trucks/lines.
Shit, that reminds me of the one time in Oklahoma where this one train derailed and the LNG spilled out as a fog and then detonated on a house.

@DiscoRodeo I think people gave up on training also because a lot of people starting hopping as soon as they could since they knew the chance of raises was basically zero, or when they did happen were not even in track with inflation. It's a feedback loop.

 

[eternal dog mongler]

I think people gave up on training also because a lot of people starting hopping as soon as they could since they knew the chance of raises was basically zero, or when they did happen were not even in track with inflation. It's a feedback loop.

Depends on the field. In medicine/law your goal is basically to stick around and grind out partner. That's the carrot they dangle in front of your face, or the barbed hook they've got you with depending on your view of things.

Every other field yeah fuck it. Especially tech.

 

[Stoneheart]

Shit, that reminds me of the one time in Oklahoma where this one train derailed and the LNG spilled out as a fog and then detonated on a house.

mine is a CO leak, it stay on the ground and nobody bothers to use the detectors.

 

[兄貴 Forevermore]

mine is a CO leak, it stay on the ground and nobody bothers to use the detectors.

It's just not thought of usually but in the US at least it's not common. I've picked up a habit of always walking outside if I get a headache (It's dumb and autistic I know).

Edit: How is everyone in getting just general labor (unskilled)? Can''t find anything on my end thats not a junkie and we need to move things that can kill pretty commonly.

 

[Stoneheart]

It's just not thought of usually but in the US at least it's not common. I've picked up a habit of always walking outside if I get a headache (It's dumb and autistic I know).

It can happen outside too, but thats mostly natural sources, but a pipeline or tank leak could do that too.

 

[Dyn]

im not in the US and we need truckers with extra qualifications and they shouldnt be new in the field.
some of the chemicals are very very explosive.

I'm hazchem qualified and pretty much exactly what you're looking for, how much are you offering per hour?

 

[naaaaiiiiillllll!!!]

I'm hazchem qualified and pretty much exactly what you're looking for, how much are you offering per hour?

Don't listen! Dyn will huff all yer gas!

 

[Kramer on the phone]

I'm hazchem qualified and pretty much exactly what you're looking for, how much are you offering per hour?

$8/hr

 

[Dyn]

Edit: How is everyone in getting just general labor (unskilled)? Can''t find anything on my end thats not a junkie and we need to move things that can kill pretty commonly.

Also how much are you guys paying? I'm experienced in hazmat/FCM handling and rated for pretty much everything but radiological and unexploded ordnance. Make me an offer.

 

[DiscoRodeo]

@DiscoRodeo I think people gave up on training also because a lot of people starting hopping as soon as they could since they knew the chance of raises was basically zero, or when they did happen were not even in track with inflation. It's a feedback loop.

If its current inflation, while it contributes, Id say that the social contract was broken well before that-

For increase in raises, I think that it's important of course, and can be the deciding factor in someone leaving (ie, if you are integral to a business for years, you should be treated that way),
but there are other ways to show respect to employees at work. I know that certain people did feel a sense of loyalty to someone who trained them, would be willing to take some pay hikes for a modicum of flexibility, more lenient hours, more autonomy, etc.

I don't necessarily blame employers (at least smaller ones) for not raising wages after 2008 considering things got much more dire in the state of the market and everyone is just scrounging by.

Most of the people leaving jobs for better ones tend to be more corporate types, and its usually after "okay, the work life balance here sucks, and Im not getting more money, no more autonomy, Im just a cog" etc.

Even then though, I dont know of any jobs that train people from the ground up. Some jobs do train people, but usually its someone who already has experience in a field and it equates more to upgrading or re-training. It used to be, in the 90s at least, that people would be trained literally from the ground up in certain companies