#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #LaborDay #EssentialWorkers
“The metro (Atlanta) area alone has about 300,000 workers in retail and sales jobs, 250,000 people doing food-related work, 16,000 police officers and 8,000 emergency medical technicians and dispatchers,” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And, we take them for granted.
That was the main point in the Labor Day article by Michael E. Kanell, business and economics reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It was published Sept. 7, 2020.
“They have no choice. If your employer says, ‘Go back to work,’ you have to do it,” the article quotes Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at The Century Foundation, who has studied the labor market.
During the beginning of the pandemic, some of these workers were getting hazard pay. Much of that has ended, the article says.
Basically, these necessary workers who have to be out there regardless of the susceptibility to disease are overworked, underpaid and undervalued, the article points out. We might put school bus drivers in that category as well. They have lots of responsibility, but generally get paid very little.
Yes, as Kanell writes, Labor Day is a celebration of blue-collar labor. But as necessary as these folks are, many of the higher-paid white-collar workers got to work from home, protected from the pandemic.
And, these lower-paid, necessary workers also enjoy fewer benefits and protections in many places, Kanell writes.
“Each and every day going into work, you feel at risk,” Kanell quotes longtime supermarket worker Mary, who didn’t want to give her full name out of fear of retribution. “They make the schedule. And if you are on the schedule, you work,” the article quotes her.
Many of us can relate to hard work. Many of us can relate to having to go to work regardless of weather, job hazards etc. The pandemic adds a colossal risk to the workplace.
You could not only catch it yourself, but also spread it to anyone who lives with you or near you. Though you may not get noticeably sick, someone close to you, particularly if they have other underlying health problems, could catch the virus from you and get terribly ill – or die.
The pandemic gives new meaning to at-risk employee.
Still, many of those employees love their jobs. They want to help people, regardless of the conditions.
And, some employers, who may want to pay them more, simply cannot afford to. The traditional job market can be very unfair. Still, many of us have to work – period.
But what if there were something out there you could do that wouldn’t have to put you at risk, and paid you potentially a lot more than a risky job would? What if you didn’t need any significant education, experience or background to do it? What if you could do it around your current job, until it came time that you didn’t need your current job?
There are many such programs out there. To learn about one of the best, message me.
We are thankful that our essential workers are doing what they are doing for us, regardless of what may – or may not — be in it for them. All we can do is thank them, be nice to them – regardless of the encounter – and respect them.
They help us get the necessities of life, and some of them do not have the pandemic protections they should have. Many, like meat packers, HAVE to work shoulder-to-shoulder, and are at great risk of spreading disease.
Our lives depend on their labor. Happy Labor Day.
Peter
Tag Archives: Bureau of Labor Statistics
WAGES RISING, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP UP WITH COSTS
#RisingCosts #WageIncreases #ImprovingEconomy
The economy is improving.
Therefore, interest rates are rising.
Therefore, wages are increasing as unemployment is decreasing.
Therefore, costs of just about everything is rising, which may be canceling out wage increases for many.
In its Weekly Explainer, published Oct. 29, 2018, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution took on this subject, largely quoting economist Aaron Sojourner of the University of Minnesota.
Sojourner spent a year as part of the Council of Economic Advisers in Washington.
The unemployment rate is now as low as it has been since the dot-com boom. Yet, it’s really hard for a lot of people to get a meaningful raise, which is defined as exceeding the price increases of necessities, the article says.
Real average hourly earnings, meaning wages adjusted for inflation, in August for all employees are up 0.1 percent, the article quotes the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall prices have increased by the same amount during the same time period, the article says.
“On average, most workers were running in place,” the article reads.
Moreover, for ordinary workers over the last year, real average hourly earnings actually decreased 0.1 percent, the article quotes the BLS.
If you are an average worker, whether or not you have gotten a raise recently, you probably feel that you can’t get ahead.
Sure, employers are fighting over a finite labor pool, poaching even within a restaurant chain, some of which have eased their rules against that.
So one may end up going from one job to another, doing pretty much the same work, and might see $1 an hour more. But if the cost of what you have to buy is increasing by that much, you may think it’s better to keep up than to fall behind – and it is.
So what’s a person who really wants to get ahead to do? That depends on whether that person is willing to look at things that can put extra money in his or her pocket, without interfering with what he or she is doing now.
That doesn’t mean a second, relatively low-paying job. It means looking at something that could dramatically change your life for the better.
There are many such vehicles out there that potentially can do that. To check out one of the best, message me.
Meanwhile, keep your eyes open for a better-paying job. Look at doing something you may never have thought you would do. Rather than complain about how things are, do something to make your life better.
Though employers may look desperate for help in some areas, there’s only so much they are going to pay for that help. No matter how much your boss may like you, if you threaten to go, there’s only so many inducements he or she will offer to convince you to stay. Try not to make such a decision on emotion. Always have your mind on what would be best for you.
When unemployment is down, wages go up, and prices go up to pay those higher wages. It’s a progression you cannot stop. But you can look at things that, with a little effort outside of your job, and a strong goal for your life, can allow you to reach your dream.
Peter
ROBOTS, OTHER COUNTRIES KILLING U.S. JOBS?
#robots #AmericanJobs #efficiencies #CreativeDestruction
Do you believe robots, or manufacturing in other countries, are killing American jobs?
A recent article in The Guardian carries the headline, “Robots will destroy our jobs – and we’re not ready for it.”
Economist Joseph Schumpeter describes technological change as “creative destruction.” Actually, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the U.S. labor force in 1950 was 62 million. By 2000 it was 79 million and it’s projected to reach 192 million by 2050.
These bits of information come from an article by Walter E. Williams of Creators Syndicate. It was published Feb. 21, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Though the ‘creative destruction’ process works hardships on some people who lose their jobs and are forced to take lower-paying jobs, any attempt to impede the process would make us all worse off,” Williams writes.
It’s tough to understand the value of technological progress if you’ve been shown the curb from your job. Many people have lost relatively good-paying jobs, and been forced to take lower-paying jobs, if they were lucky enough to find a new job at all. The recession of 2008 has taken a toll on many.
The Williams article tells of the 62 million in the work force in 1950. Back then, progress was definitely slower. People could count on the jobs they had to be around for as long as they wanted to work. Some of those jobs were hard, either on the body, mind or both.
Back then, many workers were represented by unions, which helped impede some process innovations and efficiencies to keep more people working.
Today, fewer workers have that kind of representation, and the number keeps decreasing. Workers are essentially on their own to plan their careers.
As a result, in many cases, careers come to a premature end, and workers are left figuring out what to do next.
But just as technology has been, by and large, a good thing for the U.S. and the world, having workers determine their own destinies can also be a good thing, if you want to look at it differently.
It’s been said in several different ways that hardship creates opportunity. Though the opportunity may be difficult to see if circumstances have dealt you a difficult blow, they are out there for those willing to look for them.
If you have lost what appears to be a good job, and are not yet ready to retire, there are many ways out there to make money other than through a traditional W-2 job. To check out one of the best, message me. You might even see a great way to help your friends overcome difficult circumstances.
The U.S. has moved over the centuries from a primarily agricultural economy, to a primarily manufacturing economy, and is continuing to move into a more technologically based economy. You, as perhaps a temporarily displaced worker, can’t do anything to fight that. In fact, no governmental entity can do anything to fight that. If we try to impede innovation here, someone else somewhere will innovate, leaving the U.S. in the dust.
So the next time you try to blame robots, cheaper overseas labor or other advances on your circumstances, remember that you can’t stop those things. You can only look for ways to help yourself to a better life.
That may require a change of mind-set, or departing your comfort zone, but ANYONE can do it. If you don’t find a solution immediately, keep looking. You just might meet the person who will show you how YOU can change your life for the better.
Peter