#LaborShortages #SummerTravel #labor #jobs #workers #employers
Resorts, restaurants and other entertainment venues are reporting labor shortages.
These employers say the number of applicants for work at summer hot spots are down. They may not be able to fill the jobs they have available.
NBC News reported on this problem May 15, 2022.
There are a number of issues here. First, these jobs are usually seasonal. The ideal applicant is a college or a high school student out of school for the summer.
Why aren’t they applying? There could be a number of reasons, but suffice it to say that the workplace, in general, is changing.
Since the pandemic, workplace safety is a bigger concern than ever. These young folks may be more cautious about a job that involves interacting with a lot of people, particularly if they don’t know the vaccination status of those people. After all, they don’t want to get sick, or worse, over a job.
Also, many of these jobs, particularly in hospitality, don’t pay well. As employers of all stripes are fighting over fewer workers, perhaps these students may have found other, more lucrative and less stressful job options.
Thirdly, as much as kids want to hang at, say, a beach area for the summer, what are their housing options, and are they affordable? No one wants to spend everything they earn to eat and sleep near a resort workplace.
These labor shortages contribute to the inflation we all see. If employers have to pay more to attract workers, customers will have to pay more.
That goes for every link in the supply chain. If there are labor shortages at the end of the chain, there are probably labor problems throughout.
It’s great for the economy for workers to have options. As an employer, perhaps you have to make working for you a better option. You have to find the “sweet spot” that makes you, your employees and your customers happy. It’s a tough balance for some establishments, so one has to be creative to make it work.
If you are a worker, by all means evaluate any available option you have. Money is certainly important, but a work situation that fits your needs and that you like is critical. Otherwise, you will not be happy no matter how much they pay you.
For the first time in a long time, workers are in the driver’s seat in many instances. These workers, in general, are NOT sitting home collecting government checks. They want to work, but also want to be treated well, want to feel safe and secure and want to feel, for lack of a better term, at home.
It can be a tall order to create an ideal workplace. Certainly, some jobs or tasks will be no one’s favorite thing to do. But the employer has to make those burdensome, necessary jobs and tasks as rewarding as possible.
The old idea of ruling a workplace with an iron fist will not attract or retain the best workers.
You need rules, certainly, but you also need an atmosphere that workers want to be in and want to make even better.
You might be surprised to learn that you can create such a workplace without too much hardship. You just have to think, ask questions and learn what people want.
It never hurts to ask workers what they are looking for. The answers may yield simple solutions
Peter
Tag Archives: labor shortages
LABOR SHORTAGES AFFECTING LOW-PAYING JOBS
#LaborShortages #LowpayingJobs #jobs #employment #EssentialWorkers
There is a shortage of school bus drivers.
Massachusetts had to get the National Guard to help.
Many nurses are ditching their full-time gigs to become traveling nurses, which pays them twice or three times as much.
There’s also a shortage in other front-line and hospitality professions. Finding substitute teachers is such a problem that some districts have lowered standards to qualify.
Giulia Heyward covered this subject in an article for The New York Times. It was also published Sept. 18, 2021, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
What to do? And, what does it mean?
Jobs that pay relatively poorly, but have a lot of stress and responsibility, didn’t attract many candidates, even before the pandemic.
Employers say they can’t afford to pay more. Well, the labor market is telling employers that if they don’t pay more, they won’t get the people they need.
We haven’t seen a labor market like this in quite a while.
People in some job categories are asking for what they have deserved for a long time. If they don’t get it, they walk to greener pastures.
COVID-19 has spurred this new labor market. Jobs like driving a school bus, or nursing, have even more stress now than they did before because of the real dangers of getting sick.
It’s tough enough to drive a school bus, or take care of sick patients, without the COVID-19 threat.
But the pandemic has added yet another layer of stress.
Plus, if a person gets sick, he or she is no good to anyone – family, employer etc.
That adds to the decision whether to take, or quit, a job. It makes the question , “is it worth it,” even more stark.
For workers, there are answers, other than just staying home. There are programs that enable a person to work from home, even part time, and earn an income that potentially could easily beat that of one of those stressful, highly responsible, but relatively low-paying jobs.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, it’s OK to analyze your work situation. It’s OK to ask yourself, why am I doing this? Am I getting enough back from all this stress?
The answer to that last question can take the form of money or intangibles. If you love driving a school bus – or you love the kids you transport – or, if you really love taking care of sick patients despite the stress, you may not want to give up those jobs.
But if your financial situation is not what you think it should be, you may want to enhance it with a little part-time effort that anyone, regardless of education, experience or background, can do.
Such an effort could take the financial sting out of that stressful job you may love – yes, you can do both things if you’d like to.
The fact remains that the labor market is changing. You can look for opportunities in those changes – remember the traveling nurses? – or, if your situation is too much to bear, or risk, look for something a little less risky and stressful, and perhaps even more lucrative.
Peter