[RoadToad]

Originally Posted by wsachs

Seems you lose benefits after 12 weeks and you MUST be actively looking for work. Florida Unemployment Benefits | Reemployment Assistance

Don't bother us with FACTS; we prefer to berate the fiction..
Jees, get with the program man..

[gail swanson]

Well said! Thx

[Villages Kahuna]

Ultimately all the cash dumped into the economy as the result of the economic stimulus bill will accomplish the objective of kick-starting virtually every economic segment and business. But like lots of things that are the product of political negotiations, often there are unintended consequences. That’s probably not a reason not to have passed the stimulus legislation, just a temporary unintended consequence.

Part of the cause of the problem You observed might also be the refusal of Congress to pass reasonable minimum wage legislation. If Outback was paying $15 an hour rather than a much lesser amount, they would be having less difficulty getting employees. Of course another unintended consequence is that your steak would probably be more expensive. But at least you’d get reasonable service.

[Villages Kahuna]

I’ve been told by people who know that The Villages Regional Hospital is having a similar problem hiring nurses, doctors and medical professionals. When UF Health took over they fired quite a few underperforming staff. Now for a wide variety of reasons, not just compensation, they’re having lots of difficulty hiring permanent replacements.

It’s a shame that such a beautiful, well-equipped hospital is only one of a few in the state rated with the lowest quality of care rating.

I’ve had a local primary care physician tell me, “If you wake up and find yourself in The Villages Regional Hospital, call a cab and get out of there as quickly as possible.”

[Number 10 GI]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

Ultimately all the cash dumped into the economy as the result of the economic stimulus bill will accomplish the objective of kick-starting virtually every economic segment and business. But like lots of things that are the product of political negotiations, often there are unintended consequences. That’s probably not a reason not to have passed the stimulus legislation, just a temporary unintended consequence.

Part of the cause of the problem You observed might also be the refusal of Congress to pass reasonable minimum wage legislation. If Outback was paying $15 an hour rather than a much lesser amount, they would be having less difficulty getting employees. Of course another unintended consequence is that your steak would probably be more expensive. But at least you’d get reasonable service.

If a server would be making $15 an hour I'm not going to tip on top of what the steak would cost due to higher labor costs. I seriously doubt service would improve to any noticeable degree. Their reply to being criticized for poor service would be "what do you expect for minimum wage?"
Raising the minimum wage to $15 will result in the cost of goods and services going up and people now working for $15 would want a raise because apparently their services are worth more than minimum wage. In a few years the $15 will be just like the $8 + being paid now. Doesn't take a lot of rocket science to figure that out.

[Indydealmaker]

Originally Posted by Vikingjunior

The legislation to raise minimum wage to $15 was shot down already during the last stimulus package.

Part of the problem is Florida's minimum wage is $8.64 per hour. I don't blame people who make minimum wage to sit home and collect the federal government's extra $300 on top of their base unemployment pay.

It is not the federal government's money. It is ours. The Biden administration is extorting small businesses to increase wages if they want to bring employees back.

[kkingston57]

Agree with thoughts that higher un employment checks are a disincentive for people to work especially with people who have children. I do see a lot of signs for work needed in this area.

Feel the biggest problem is the lack of younger people in this area. TV is booming and in the meantime birthrates(over the years) have been declining. Sumter County has one of the highest, if not the highest % of retired people in the state and probably going to get higher. In meantime very few if any new < 55 housing going up. TV and others are creating this problem. Not going to get better anytime soon.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by kkingston57

Agree with thoughts that higher un employment checks are a disincentive for people to work especially with people who have children. I do see a lot of signs for work needed in this area.

Feel the biggest problem is the lack of younger people in this area. TV is booming and in the meantime birthrates(over the years) have been declining. Sumter County has one of the highest, if not the highest % of retired people in the state and probably going to get higher. In meantime very few if any new < 55 housing going up. TV and others are creating this problem. Not going to get better anytime soon.

You need to look around at all the <55 housing being constructed.

[Vernon Hud]

I don't think the virus problem has been fully solved yet, and you people are complaining about not being served Quick enough at a restaurant. If I had a job as a server or waiter, I would think twice about going back to a job where anyone that comes in could infect them. When this pandemic is over with, I think most all the job problems will be solved. I'm sure you all that are complaining on this thread probably got 3 stimulus checks that you all gave back to the government, right. Quit complaining about others, look at yourself.

[EdFNJ]

The MAXIMUM unemployment benefit in FL is $275/week with a MAXIMUM of $3300 for 12 weeks. While I am sure there are people "playing" the $300 "windfall" to their advantage there are MANY MORE who are not. Do the math. Sometimes a few benefit who don't deserve it but generally it benefits the majority. Kind of like tax cuts for billionaires. I'm sure many folks HERE who "didn't need" the money they accepted to "stimulate they economy" took it and are b1tching about the extra $300 for a few more months those who aren't living the good life got.

"The state determines your weekly benefit payments based on your previous earnings during employment. In 2020, you can receive a maximum of $275 per week for 12 weeks. You are entitled to a maximum benefit amount of $3,300." This means a lot of people aren't even getting $275/week.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by wsachs

Seems you lose benefits after 12 weeks and you MUST be actively looking for work. Florida Unemployment Benefits | Reemployment Assistance

You are correct that the law "says" that you must be actively looking for work. But, people have been routinely cheating on that law and the Government has been letting them get away with it ever since the law was created.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI

If a server would be making $15 an hour I'm not going to tip on top of what the steak would cost due to higher labor costs. I seriously doubt service would improve to any noticeable degree. Their reply to being criticized for poor service would be "what do you expect for minimum wage?"
Raising the minimum wage to $15 will result in the cost of goods and services going up and people now working for $15 would want a raise because apparently their services are worth more than minimum wage. In a few years the $15 will be just like the $8 + being paid now. Doesn't take a lot of rocket science to figure that out.

Finding servers and bartenders who can earn tips is not nearly as big a problem as finding workers who only earn an hourly wage. Cooks and dishwashers slave in hot kitchens and typically work much harder than servers and don’t get tips. These are the people actually making your food, and at the end of their shift they have to watch the servers and bartenders sit down and count their piles of tip money, while wearing their grease and sweat filled kitchen clothes.

[Justus]

Originally Posted by billyb1950

Any state's minimum wage has little if anything to do with job vacancies. Businesses will fill positions independent of those minimum wages by offering more $$ to hire and retain quality employees. The minimum wage may be $8.64 but the real question is: what is the average market hourly wage across the state? I imagine it's more than minimum. In my personal opinion, three things are missing: work ethic, the value of work to the human condition, and pride. All seem to be woefully missing in the younger generation and if Uncle Sam keeps handing out our tax money to these folks, it will continue.

Yep. It's insidious and institutional. Personal pride and initiative are being bred out of our youth in favor of government control. The Eloi. It's amazing how prescient HG Wells was...I swear his Time Machine was not a novel, but an experiential account of his own time travel.

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

When tips are added into a servers pay they can do well.

Sad when the govt would rather borrow money than to work out a plan to get people back to work.

Our children (and I doubt they are exceptions !) worked their way through under grad and grad school working minimum wage jobs just as I did. While there are people who do not tip, over-all it really is much better than usually discussed. I was a "curbie" for a root-beer drive-in, and worked same for a Steak & Shake. Certainly saw it was not the way to great wealth, but, definitely much better than most would guess it to be. One thing my adult children and I all agree on having all worked a variety of these jobs; a significant problems among minimum wage workers is a lack of knowledge and/or skills in managing money. It's a sad and never ending problem in our society that those who need the greatest expertise in money management, are often those who left school before they took advantage of the 12 years of free education our country offers every individual. Please understand this is NOT ALL who work in these industries, but so many who most need the ability to compare prices, value, and convert net weights at the grocery store, lack such skills. They are the ones most like to NOT read the fine print on an auto lease or bill of sale, etc. etc. Also adding to the problem is that a high percentage of those who do complete their education may have been present in classes but paid little attention to learning.

This was verified when I was involved in research into this very topic. Those who completed secondary school with high attendance records and a history of completing assignments (regardless of g.p.a. !), but were not college bound, tended to NOT enter minimum wage jobs and entered skilled trade schools and apprenticeships and entered the military (where they received advanced education and skills training), and they attended community college evening outreach programs at a much higher rate than those who did complete secondary school but with sporadic and limited engagement in the classroom learning process.

We are a free county, free to reject education, however, mandatory basic education, provided free through taxes, could go a long way to solving many, not all of course, problems of our society. IF minimum wage jobs provided a launching platform, a support, for reaching for additional education or to gain skills to prepare for a better paying job, we could greatly reduce the number of welfare programs we must offer to keep our country from deteriorating to the level of many I have seen in travels abroad. There is much we "could" do. When my parents were young, education was mandatory in their state. IF anyone dared to "skip" school, Mr. "Jake", the "truant officer" as he was called, was a branch of the local police force, something like officers assigned to schools today to discourage drug use. Students and parents KNEW they had a responsibility to attend classes for 12 years; it was something you owed yourself and you duty to your country to be literate. While some could view this as anti-democratic (forced education) and obviously that is what has happened over the years since my parent's youth, it could just be worth a try rather than continue down this path ?

People do not seem to be concerned with the fact that many of our country's secondary schools have now dropped below the 50% graduation rate. This can have a devastating effect on GNP, wages, welfare burdens; it touches every aspect of our society.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

When tips are added into a servers pay they can do well.

Sad when the govt would rather borrow money than to work out a plan to get people back to work.

MOST minimum wage workers don't get tips. In fact, in the state of Florida, tip-earning employees only have to be paid $5.63/hour by their employers, because it's expected that they'll make up the difference with tips. Usually they do. Sometimes they don't.

But those workers who were earning below the normal state minimum, plus tips, I totally don't blame them for wanting to bow out of the rat race for a few more months before they run out of benefits.

Especially now that there's been another surge in COVID cases and many of these workers have kids who *cannot* be vaccinated since they're under age. The last thing they need is to bring home a virus that will require them to stay home with their kids for a 2-week quarantine, with no income at all, not even unemployment benefits.