[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by thomp679

As the OP, the reference to 'people moving here' is in regards to why would someone move to the local surrounding communities to work not to move to the Villages itself to retire. For the same reason anyone moves to Florida....the weather is warmer year around for one, the nearby beaches, the atmosphere and HOUSING is relatively inexpensive in the surrounding areas. Google homes under 100K and rent for $500.

With a low unemployment rate within the local workforce, people will need to be attracted here to fill the gap. Why would people come to our outlying communities to support you and me when this area ironically is also found to be a leader where a person working fulltime is not being paid a wage that allows them to be above the poverty line. For the same reason people anywhere choose jobs with low income. Not everyone has skills to be a CEO or an M.D.

This has nothing to do with people working harder and raising themselves out of poverty like you did. It has to do with a worker who can choose to go to another town and get a better paying job, affordable housing, and transportation options so they will not choose to come to this general area. We do not have any shortage at this time, other than the seasonal demand.

The purpose of the post is that the laws of supply and demand do not seem to be working for us in our local employment sector. We have a unique demographics that no other city has. We have high retired population and a low working population. We have tapped our local workforce and though there is good financial resources of the demanders (us), the wages are not adequate to provide the supply (employees).Again I say, where do you see lack of workers here, there is an uptick for workers now during the high season, the same in all areas of Florida at this time.

This is not necessarily the fault of the business owner. The main expenses of a business is cost of goods sold, rent, and labor. IMO, I think high rent forces the businesses to hold wages down in order to keep their doors open. The higher rent in the squares is echoed throughout Florida in all tourist areas. The businesses are not forced to rent there.

We all should be concerned that if wages are not adjusted, stores and restaurants will close, services will go unfulfilled, work quality will continue to decline. All due to labor demands that cannot be met. This in turn will increase our costs for services that provide quality work because demand will allow them, increased wait times at restaurants or to have a job done at your home, and could force us to go to Orlando, Ocala, or the Internet to shop.

I think your concern is misplaced. Services have not been unfulfilled. Work quality has not declined. Everyone is using the internet to shop.