Employment environment is normal economics at work
 

LOL! its very easy to blame the government for normal economic forces . . . but ultimately, the current employment environment is normal economics working . . . the world has just been very easy and comfortable for a long stretch of time, at least 40 years, and we are facing natural forces which have been at bay for 100 years. . . now, not so much. . . more employment survival skills are needed and more employer adaptability is required.

About that Giant Payrolls Miss... - The Big Picture

highlights:

If you need to hire you must increase wages; if you want to hire (but cannot increase wages), you better offer a compelling workplace or prepare for unfilled positions and higher than normal turnover.

• Employers are not competing against unemployment insurance, they are COMPETING AGAINST EACH OTHER FOR TALENT. How so many are missing this is perplexing. This is how the market operates; prices rise when demand goes up. That I need to even remind some of this is proof how badly damaging ideological blinders are to fundamental economic analysis.


yes, my daughter quit a restaurant job with no benefits for a lower paying job with benefits and a much nicer management team. read point 1 above.

two, having worked in finance with programming skills, I have eliminated jobs starting about 20 years ago. Someone gave me Martha's report, which she did daily and took her about 4-6 hours to prepare. them she emailed it out to people. They gave me the report to perform, and after some work, i reduced the report time to 5 minutes. Then I worked with the corporate automation and web team and it was done with automation overnight. . . now I need something to do! two people without work!

Current environment, colleagues use my reports which are updated with a click of a button, and they can customize the report to any variable / meta data they want to see. . . that is why there is very little opportunities in the corporate world or the middle class. .. and the automation continues to eat jobs, so there are fewer high quality jobs, unless you have a unique skill set which the organization needs. . . i had two scheduled lay off dates last year, neither happened as they used my skills in other places. . . but long time employees did get laid off, and of course, they were upset after so many comfortable years, but most aren't suited to today's competitive work environment.

So don't blame the government for job loss, that's just your personal scapegoat for events beyond your control . . . we all want to be needed, and we all want what we think is the reward for the best we can do, but no one is irreplaceable, you are on your own in a capitalist/corporatist world to survive. Yea, it sucks to be laid off, I have been three times, and dodged two last year. I have been jobless for three years, from 2001 to 2004 because no one would hire me. I didn't blame the government, it was the economy and my personal constraints I had kids to raise and would not move. . . . and for the financial planning saying back then, have 3-6 months of savings between jobs. . . didn't quite work . my former boss also was out of work for 3 years while looking. . . we didn't blame the government

That's what made this country so great is the creative work ethic of opportunity. That opportunity has created alot of wealth for those who worked hard and smart in most industries. . . there are choices, but one only gets what they work for, not what they wish for. . .

BTDT guy

i pushed the post button on the prior thread one minute after it was closed.

Jobs report show 40% of the recipients on unemployment are making more than they normally do.

THAT'S NOT COMPETITION


Your post doesn't hold water at all

Sorry Coach K do not agree.

When the govt gives people more money to stay home than work it will distort the employment market.

Made some sense when the economy has shut down but now that the unemployment rate is down to a more normal figure, makes no sense for the govt to borrow money to pay people to stay at home.

If these subsidies went away, wages would rise as a result of companies needing to compete for labor.

stu and sports guy -- when I need my shoes fixed I go to a shoemaker.

Maybe what we need to settle some of this is a simple chart showing jobs available and people out of work.

Maybe there were only 266,000 jobs available and all were filled.

Maybe there were only 266,000 people out of work and now everyone is employed.

But if there were more than 266,000 jobs available and more than 266,000 people unemployed but the people chose to remain unemployed rather than take one of the available jobs then we have a problem.

Perhaps wages need to increase. Perhaps prices need to increase to support increased wages.

Perhaps the Federal Govt is trying to force a minimum wage by setting unemployment compensation levels to incentivize employees staying home until wages increase.

It's all about increasing Government dependence to diminish the private sector.

Very true

There were over 7 MILLION job openings as of the end of February (the last months # are available)...

So, no, all the available jobs were not filled, by a long shot...

Of course it will distort the employment market, I guess some can't really understand how that work, there seems to be plenty who can't... !

I find it hard to believe that you really believe the garbage you are putting out there in the name of simple economics. There are cleaning services in The Villages offering $20 an hour for full time employment that can’t get anyone to fill the positions. As soon as that government stipend ends they will be back to work if they aren’t all drug addicts or alcoholics by then

You obviously dont own a business and are trying to hire employees. I have a service business. We pay $25 to $35 an hour with paid health insurance and a 401K. I have been told numerous times from applicants that they would like to work for us when their unemployment benefits run out. That's my competition.

You can believe what you want but if you look at the unemployment figures and the new jobs, we have a problem Houston, I believe something like 500,000 jobs were created last month meaning people took employment, but we have 300,000 new people unemployed for the first time getting their check, there are plenty of jobs out there if you look at the statistics for job postings in newspapers and internet search engines, I just saw on TV how one of the large pizza chains Papa John's I believe opened up hundreds of stores and hired 30,000 people, but they are looking for 10,000 more. It all depends on whether you really want to work or whether you want to sit home on your lazy backside and collect more money than working people do. Just in the last week several states have decided to cut off unemployment because they see the actual results of too much money. Oh and don't forget Congress has given away $3,000 or more to every able-body taxpayer which means $6,000 for a family plus thousands more starting this summer if you have children so why should you work if the government is just giving you money hand over a fist as they say

Your post highlights the woeful lack of trade and technical retraining opportunities for both young and older workers. They have been eliminated in the high schools. Since about 2/3 of our kids don’t get a 4 year college degree they are left to face a rigorous college prep curriculum they hate. Government and industry need to work together to provide training and retraining opportunities to meet the challenges of our changing economy.

Statistics and unemployment
 

as a smaller businessman, I was there for able to employ an economics professor to help me run my business, but I did tend to rely on all the statistics that are out there you tell me whether I should continue investing or pull back and save money in the bank for a bad economy. There are a lot of simple numbers out there, car sales are one, home sales are another, these are called leading , indicators as they are good indications of current actual business levels, unemployment and inflation levels are not leading indicators because they are what happens after the fact when too much money is pumped into the economy, or we've had major world events causing businesses to stop growing. Inventory, hotel prices, airline costs, and gasoline are the things to look at. We've had major distortions because restaurants have closed and people are getting too much money so they aren't working. It's pretty well obvious that everybody that doesn't have their head stuck in sand what the real problems are.

Economics can only function properly when the government leaves it alone. If I have a business that pays an employee $15.00 per hour for a starting position and the government pays them that PLUS an additional $7.50 per hour ($300. per week), how can I compete? I now have to charge the customer 50% more . Do you want to pay the increase.
Unemployment benefits need to be 80% of the actual take home pay. That is enough to get by until you find another job. When unemployed you have less personal expenses such as fuel or fares to get to and from work.
That is the problem when the government officials have never been in the private work force. All they know is how to get paid off the backs of the taxpayers who do have to work for a living.
This is the prime reason that term limits are a must.
Time to end the career politicians.

We need about 275 seasonal employees, have about 175.
Last year, we paid $15/hour. Can’t get anyone this year at $20. We also feed our employees for free.

Combined with, for example, a 25% increase in the wholesale price of bacon (and other proteins) since January - you’ll be happy when your $7 BLT costs you $12.

It’s not natural economics when the government interferes. There are HELP WANTED signs everywhere.

My son came to Florida looking for work and found it. He and two partners started a custom cabinet, flooring and handyman business.

My son has a four year university degree and chose to learn a new skill/trade here in the villages. He is working and learning from a master carpenter with 20+ years experience. He was making more than $20/hr with benefits up north. Now he is working for $15/hr with no benefits. He is young and hopes that the business will grow and he can then make a living wage and buy his own benefits. Health insurance is no joke when you are in a trade!

Their handyman business is going full throttle! My son is working long hours 6-7 days a week. With 25+ years of building to continue in the villages, no one is going to take their employment away from them if they continue to provide quality work.

Simple economics is that when people are paid to stay home they will stay home. When they aren’t paid to stay home they will go to work.

:bigbow:

Let's not forget being in the right place, at the right time and knowing the right people. That's also a big part of opportunity. Too many people ignore that component when they place blame on not working hard enough or just being lazy leaches.

Great discussion, I just realized some people have to live at poverty level for economics to work properly.

Well thanks for sharing such an esteemed employment profile, I am certain that you were very valuable.
As you seem to want to defend and praise “the government” for the blessing that they bless upon us, I would challenge that as a capitalist snd an American with business experience.
First of all this limp employment report is not a cycle it IS due to government intervention.
Just six months ago we had a sustainable and vibrant employment system and outlook. Various and numerous international economists anticipated >900k jobs and there are <300k delivered.
Was if the government’s fault, well no to be specific. Regarding REAL job numbers the government cannot do a lot, but what they can to is create an environment that can benefit or damage employment.
Neither the Government, the labor unions nor other such entities can create serious job numbers, at least not in our capitalist nation. You may remember, the one that has been so prosperous and generous to its citizens snd the world.
The current Congress snd Administration are creating a climate that had businesses pulling back for many reasons. They offer over $600
/ week in unemployment checks which is more than minimum wage at 40 hours, why work. They force more dependence on foreign governments, they want more regulation and higher taxes.
It is not the technology, it is a Government creating higher dependence on Socialism and shutting down business, especially small businesses because they ARE the backbone of the American economy.

It's more the case that if economics is working correctly then there will be a lower level of income which will be defined as the poverty level and there will be some people living there.

Agree with you................garbage.
(hoping this is not delete-able)

We tend to think all problems, changes are new. Sort of like we think we just invented the wheel.

Why on woodcarving topic ? The reason is simple I do woodcarving. It is a hobby.
I would not, I could not do it to put food on my table.

The word sabotage. Sabot is wooden shoes at one time common. They were hand carved. A machine was invented that could do it faster and cheaper. The workers tried to destroy the machine.

Stuff like cigar store Indians, carousel horses, circus wagons. A one time woodcarvers would do all the ornate carvings, that are highly collected today, on ships. It was expensive and added weight. Speed and cost ended that. Carvers, some of course went into other fields, others carved stuff like cigar store Indians, carousel horses and circus wagons. Interesting to me. One of the largest suppliers of carousel horses was in Brooklyn, NY. It was a production, a factory job. The top, most skilled carver did the head. I recall reading about someone who worked in such a place. He carved a head and took a week to do it. He proudly showed it to the foreman who agreed it was pretty good. The foreman then said now you need to do it in a day.

Nothing is new. We just assume we have invented the wheel. So much of what we think is new are the same old problems.

As to choices. I started over from close to zero three times. Been there done that.
The last time, I was too old, too tired and had enough saved and invested so that I did not have the will OR THE NEED to do it again.

Why, did I do it? Probably the FAULT of my parents. First of all I was taught by example
that if you need something or want something, there is a difference, you need to work for it. For too many that seems strange. Secondly, I was born poor. The is quite a difference between reading how tough life is for people on the handout trail and living worse than they complain about and working for what you need and what you want. Also, perhaps my parents fault, I was taught failure is not an option.

I was an overnight success. It only took me 45 years of long hours, hard work, and hard saving and investing.

There is always opportunity. In every era, the difference between success and failure is seeing the opportunity and acting on it.

Ebay or Amazon. Truth is I sort of saw a need to ebay. My idea, truth, my idea, has no value.
They did it. I did not. Self responsibility. Good for them. Too many assume we have the right to be a PARASITE on their success.

We have raised a generation of lazy, spineless takers.

How about those claiming people are making too much money on unemployment try to live on unemployment for an extended period of time. People need to be able to pay their bills and deserve a good quality of life in America. If employers don't value their employees enough to pay a wage people can actually live on then they have themselves to blame if employees take other alternatives. It's the basic principle of survival. What is amazing to me is how those who have plenty will take every break they can to pay less taxes and then get ticked off when low income people take unemployment just because those measly benefits pay better than their job.

You hit it on the head. Perhaps the Federal Govt is trying to force a minimum wage by setting unemployment compensation levels to incentivize employees staying home until wages increase.
I hear it time and time again. I make more on unemployment so why should I take a cut in pay to work.

Unemployment pay
 

The current Poverty level for Fl. is $1035 a month for a single person. Unemployment pay for Fl. is $1100 a month. The Fl. Senate just approved a raise to $1500. Each state is different, costs of living are different. The Federal Government cannot force changes to state economic systems without causing problems and screwing up the entire country. Has anyone bought one size fits all clothing? How's that work for you? Common sense must prevail if we are to survive as a country.

So much of what we are being told and what we read in 2021 is propaganda.

Type into your browser these words; "
pictures of murderers who were convicted felons" and then press, images.

I was shocked.

We need to be careful to understand that what is shown on search engines when WE type in search criteria is tailored to us individually, and is based on our search history. So, what I see is not the same as what you see.

Since we are kicking things around, kind of;

What did you (all) think of Elon Musk's behavior and word inflection and words on Saturday Night Live?

I had to look it up. I don't normally watch SNL.

I see a lot of posts about how the government should be "hands-off" and let capitalism run the economy.

This is called "free market" capitalism, and if you do a little searching you will find there has NEVER been an example of free-market capitalism at any time anywhere in the world other than in very small villages.

It is a wonderful sounding theory, and commonsense would tell us it works better. But, the reality is it doesn't.

The facts are that we are in a world economy. Free Market capitalism requires individuals to be able to vote for companies with their dollars, hence motivating companies to "behave".

Did you know that 90% of all food production is done by 9 companies worldwide? Do you know which labels are produced by which companies? Do you think they care how YOU vote with YOUR money?

Did you know that 80% of all pharmaceuticals prescribed and sold in the US are produced in China or India? Do you think they care how YOU vote with YOUR money?

I could go on and on, but the point is, there are valid reasons for government regulation of corporations. The discussions are around how much and in what areas. But, you really would not want to live in the age of the industrial revolution again. The age of "company stores". The age of indentured servitude.

I didn't watch SNL, but Elon does have unusual speech patterns. And he has some unusual ideas. I still admire him as a true renaissance man.

I have a feeling that both Trump and Musk may have a form of Autism disorder Syndrome such as Aspergers Syndrome.

No need to search. There were nationally broadcast hearings on misinformation.

To me, it is this country's biggest problem. We can not make decisions based on lies and false information. We seem to search until we find information that makes us feel good....no need for it to be true.

And do you not think, those that wish to divide us know that ?

Secondly, we hold nobody responsible for lying or passing on knowingly false information, as long was it makes us feel comfy.

A recipe for disaster, in my opinion. We have become our own worst enemy

Let me just say that this and previous posts on this thread about false information are "joined at the hip".

We are fed "buzz words" or phrases by those who want those phrase to be emblazoned in our head. We make no attempt to see if there is any actual truth to it, and the economy discussions are a prime example.

Gracie — that’s not a “feeling” about Elon Musk — it is true. Last night on SNL he told everybody he has Asperger’s.

Those with Asperger Syndrome are sometimes in the highest level of genius category — but often misunderstood. I am fascinated by genius. Did some of my masters writing on how schools don’t know what to do with those rare, socially inept, genius kids — who can be found from every walk of life. Kids like that are rarely even recognized as genius and can end up with unfair labels that relegate them to a category in which they do not belong. (Geez. Don’t get me started on how truly brilliant kids can quickly become the most neglected kids in the education system. I believe so much of their potential is lost because their level of intelligence is so rare and their behavior is not always “normal” and very few educators “get” them. These are the kids who are very different from just the “regular smart” kids.)

That other famous one you mentioned is not on the spectrum and not anywhere near the same category as Elon Musk in any way. But more info on that one can be found in the DSM.

I gotta get outa here. Social plans today. Don’t really want to continue to engage in amateur psychoanalysis that will devolve into the same ol’ same ol’.

(If you catch the Elon Musk clip from SNL, he makes a perfect, insightful comment about his Asperger’s that starts with saying something like, “So, what did you expect about a guy who. . .” and then he listed a few of his things. (No time to look up the SNL link where he says that, but it should be out there by now.)

Musk made clear he knows who and what he is and does not pretend to be anything else — unlike. . .oh, never mind.

Boomer