Some will not like this message

Closed Thread
Thread Tools
  #16  
Old 10-14-2019, 04:29 PM
skyking skyking is offline
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 484
Thanks: 53
Thanked 285 Times in 112 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jazuela View Post
Actually there IS data specific to the Villages. The Villages is a "census-designated place" and as such, statistics are collected on it. Those statistics are public information, anyone can gain access to it.
The Villages MSA includes all of Sumter county and does not include any of Lake or Marion counties. Look it up. There is no data specific to The Villages. The portion of The Villages in Marion county is included in the Ocala MSA and the Lake county residents are included in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford MSA.

Last edited by skyking; 10-14-2019 at 04:35 PM.
  #17  
Old 10-14-2019, 04:31 PM
Kenswing's Avatar
Kenswing Kenswing is offline
Sage
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: We're Here!
Posts: 7,595
Thanks: 1,487
Thanked 5,398 Times in 2,256 Posts
Default

With the unemployment rate at 3.5% the only people that should be working for minimum wage are those with no education or no experience.. The labor market is getting so tight that according to Wingnut's latest video, Wendy's couldn't open because of lack of employees. Sooner or later employers will have to offer more even if it's just to attract warm bodies. I'm almost afraid to eat at a fast food places right now. They are definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel at least in my area.
__________________
Birthdays Are Good For You. Statistics Show the More That You Have The Longer You Will Live..

We've Got Plenty Of Youth.. What We Need Is a Fountain Of SMART!
  #18  
Old 10-14-2019, 04:33 PM
thomp679 thomp679 is offline
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 173
Thanks: 133
Thanked 207 Times in 67 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by graciegirl View Post
Many people move their families here for a job because of the really good charter schools. Anyone working in a job connected to The Villages may place their children in the charter schools.
Gracie, this is true, but its a very narrow view. This labor wage and housing concern branches out to Lady Lake, Wildwood, Fruitland Park and other areas. Many of these residents work around the Villages, but not the Villages directly so the school benefit has no value.

The message is that if we all want the Villages to continue to be what it has been, we have to start supporting change to ensure it is sustainable. Otherwise, don't expect the Villages to be immune to the problems seen in any other community.
  #19  
Old 10-14-2019, 05:08 PM
graciegirl's Avatar
graciegirl graciegirl is offline
Sage
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 40,004
Thanks: 4,850
Thanked 5,493 Times in 1,903 Posts
Send a message via AIM to graciegirl
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by thomp679 View Post
Gracie, this is true, but its a very narrow view. This labor wage and housing concern branches out to Lady Lake, Wildwood, Fruitland Park and other areas. Many of these residents work around the Villages, but not the Villages directly so the school benefit has no value.

The message is that if we all want the Villages to continue to be what it has been, we have to start supporting change to ensure it is sustainable. Otherwise, don't expect the Villages to be immune to the problems seen in any other community.
Quite simply I view what you just said as rhetoric. It is how you view society in my opinion. I think that life will always have a curve of earners. If we build public housing for them, how are they better off than the really inexpensive housing they can rent or buy all around here? I know and many of my friends know what it is like to live on a small income. Your goals are kind and good. I see a lot of poor people who live around us that won't be poor long. I see it in the people who work long hours doing back breaking labor in the heat and bring their lunch to save money. Many will be a future teacher, CEO or President of this country. It is no shame to be poor and no shame to be rich either. Those who do their best and can do no better will most likely be alright too. I have lived long enough to see it happen. We need to save our concern for the truly disabled among us.
__________________
It is better to laugh than to cry.
  #20  
Old 10-14-2019, 05:09 PM
Aces4 Aces4 is offline
Platinum member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 1,541
Thanks: 843
Thanked 1,780 Times in 728 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by thomp679 View Post
Gracie, this is true, but its a very narrow view. This labor wage and housing concern branches out to Lady Lake, Wildwood, Fruitland Park and other areas. Many of these residents work around the Villages, but not the Villages directly so the school benefit has no value.

The message is that if we all want the Villages to continue to be what it has been, we have to start supporting change to ensure it is sustainable. Otherwise, don't expect the Villages to be immune to the problems seen in any other community.
If one is not making a sustainable wage, they need to go where they will do so. How can one work with fixed income population and expect to get rich? There are no large industries or commercial businesses in this community.

People continue to cluck how wealthy this community is and the truth is there are some high rollers but most residents have budgets. This is a huge population and when restaurants are busy, it is assumed we’re all rich. Not so. Over 100,000 people live here now and we’re not all out to eat at once. The outlier communities depend on The Villages for their dining out too. I can’t speak for everyone else but I would not spend $20. for a fast food meal and will cut back on spending even more if a $15./hr wage is voted into law. Can’t spend what you can’t afford.

Last edited by Aces4; 10-14-2019 at 05:15 PM.
  #21  
Old 10-14-2019, 05:22 PM
Fredster Fredster is online now
Gold member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,417
Thanks: 219
Thanked 400 Times in 148 Posts
Default

Yes I can certainly relate to “economic disparity”
since I really experienced it first hand early in my working career!
Yet that experience really motivated me
make an effort to gain marketable skills and capabilities
that would enhance my financial situation!
I now believe there is always a silver lining
in every cloud, but sometimes you have to look real hard to find it!
__________________
“In the valley of the blind,
the one eyed is not king, but spectator!”
  #22  
Old 10-14-2019, 05:25 PM
billethkid's Avatar
billethkid billethkid is offline
Sage
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 18,459
Thanks: 0
Thanked 4,743 Times in 1,383 Posts
Default

It is not a new problem of not having enough workers to work the services, businesses around more well to do population centers. (for lack of a better descriptor).

It has been going on for years.....MANY years.

One of the keys to attracting those who serve (servers) is affordable housing nearby the areas being served.

A problem most growing communities have had for generations. A problem that has been discussed for generations. A problem that has gone unsolved in many of the growing areas.
Seems like an issue most would support .......as long as it is not in their back yard.

Hence not much gets done about it.

I have been on committees and organizations over the years where this subject was worked, verbally, year in and year out.
In the end the majority of servers still commute from surrounding area of larger communities. The ones who want and need to work have no choice but to commute.

My 2 cents.
  #23  
Old 10-14-2019, 07:53 PM
Dutchman Dutchman is offline
Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 94
Thanks: 0
Thanked 11 Times in 6 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by skyking View Post
The Villages MSA includes all of Sumter county
Actually Sumter County is the MSA of which The Villages is a part. The Villages is classified as a Census Designated Place.
  #24  
Old 10-14-2019, 07:54 PM
Number 10 GI Number 10 GI is offline
Platinum member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,634
Thanks: 5,096
Thanked 3,221 Times in 928 Posts
Default

Most poor people are poor because of poor life choices. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize you need skills and a bit of "book learning" to get a good paying job. So many high schools are graduating students that can't pass 6th grade math and reading tests. Most schools provide a good education if you want to be educated, but when you sluff off and do nothing and graduate as an illiterate it isn't the school's fault. When I worked for the State of Tennessee I interacted with manufacturers in the state and their biggest complaint was that they couldn't find qualified employees. A number of employers in the machining industry said that job applicants didn't know or even understand fractions which is a definite skill needed for a machinist. Many of them had such low reading skills that they couldn't answer the questions on the job application. Many employers complained that young employees would call in sick at least twice a week or show up late for work. So many young people have no work ethic. Young girls/women getting pregnant outside of marriage which is a direct road to poverty, but we have a system that allows them to live public housing and receive benefits that sometimes exceed what the "working poor" get for their efforts.
Trucking companies constantly advertise for drivers and many of them will pay for driving school but apparently not many take advantage of this opportunity. I know from my discussion with company CEO's that drug testing disqualifies a lot of applicants.
My wife and I lived outside of Nashville about 35 miles and drove there daily to our jobs. The pay in our town of residence was much lower than in Nashville so we commuted there for work. Car pools were available for those who didn't have a car or didn't have one that would hold up to the daily drive.
My wife and I both didn't come from families with money, we were at the bottom of the ladder in the "working poor" class. We both grew up very poor. I graduated from high school and then went into the Army where I learned skills that I enabled me to find employment after I retired from the military. Last time I checked there are service recruiters all over the place looking for recruits, but you do have to have a bit of intelligence and education to get in plus pass a drug test. If you did poorly in school and were graduated just to get you through the system forget about being accepted by the military.
A lot of the time you may have to move to a larger city to find a good paying job. Move!
  #25  
Old 10-14-2019, 08:59 PM
OrangeBlossomBaby OrangeBlossomBaby is offline
Sage
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 8,422
Thanks: 6,788
Thanked 9,370 Times in 3,050 Posts
Default

Number 10 GI your post has literally nothing to do with the topic. The concern of this topic is the NEED for lower-paid workers in an area that doesn't really support lower-paid workers anymore. As the Villages expands, its population increases. A bigger population needs more restaurants, more gas stations, more grocery stores, more handymen, more clothing stores, etc. And as that need grows, so does the need for employees to work in all of those places. All of those places are minimum-wage or close to it.

Who do you suppose should fill these open positions? Where do you feel those people will come from? They won't be in your neighborhood - your neighborhood is mostly retired people who have no interest in working anywhere at all, and don't have to, and have already earned their retirement.

You'll need younger folks, high school and college students, 20-somethings, to fill these positions. What pool of workers will they come from, if the Villages occupies most of the liveable real estate?

In my northern home in the suburbs we have public transit. Someone living on the same main street that crosses my neighborhood, but one town away, has to take TWO buses just to get to the Burger King in my town. That's a 1.5 hour bus trip, one way, to get to a part time job with zero benefits.

Meanwhile in the greater Boston area, you can buy a T pass and be at work within 20 minutes for the same mileage as in my suburban home, after a 2-block walk to the T station.

The Villages doesn't have any public transportation at all. There's no public bus, or public shuttle, or public tram. There's no way to get from Ocala or Leesburg to the Spanish Springs Win Dixie if you don't have a car, or pay for an Uber/Lyft driver.

Proximity to work is really important if you are a young person trying to earn money for college, or trying to stay in college, or trying to start out your working life and needing something to pay the bills while you persue your career.

Last edited by OrangeBlossomBaby; 10-14-2019 at 09:05 PM.
  #26  
Old 10-14-2019, 09:18 PM
Buffalo Jim Buffalo Jim is offline
Sage
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Brownwood
Posts: 3,549
Thanks: 588
Thanked 35 Times in 20 Posts
Default

I stood in one of local Walmart`s last week around 2 PM and watched a Robot wearing a name tag that said "Bob "take a complete inventory on one long aisle as he worked his way carefully around and among shoppers . I timed it . It took him 3 minutes . Then he turned almost elegantly and scanned the other side of the aisle .
In California" Bob " relays the info to the back room of the store as well as to the warehouse a distant away . The " Back-Room " version of Bob loads up what is needed to restock the shelves and moves about the store replenishing them .
At the Regional Warehouse another " Bob " loads a truck with needed inventory to be driven to a Walmart Store .
Soon that truck will drive itself to that store . Upon arrival one of the " Bobs " will unload the truck and store the merchandise in the " Back-Room " . So far no low wage humans involved in the entire process . And this is how the need for many future low wage workers will be solved .
Of course none of this really matters for Climate Change is going to make this a" Moot Problem "according to the same minds that twist data to form a narrative for a " Slam-Article " printed in a dying publication within a dying industry .

Last edited by Buffalo Jim; 10-14-2019 at 09:26 PM.
  #27  
Old 10-14-2019, 09:23 PM
Chi-Town's Avatar
Chi-Town Chi-Town is offline
Sage
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 7,493
Thanks: 185
Thanked 1,478 Times in 711 Posts
Default

Economics 101. A tight labor market will bring increased wages. Increased wages will raise demand. Inflation follows and then interest rates go up to cool things off. And the beat goes on. We've all been around long enough to see this many times. Even though there are bumps in the road such as oil embargoes and trade wars the overall pattern is predictable. Supply and demand models are constant.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
  #28  
Old 10-14-2019, 09:53 PM
Topspinmo's Avatar
Topspinmo Topspinmo is offline
Sage
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow
Posts: 12,167
Thanks: 6,271
Thanked 4,845 Times in 2,404 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jazuela View Post
Number 10 GI your post has literally nothing to do with the topic. The concern of this topic is the NEED for lower-paid workers in an area that doesn't really support lower-paid workers anymore. As the Villages expands, its population increases. A bigger population needs more restaurants, more gas stations, more grocery stores, more handymen, more clothing stores, etc. And as that need grows, so does the need for employees to work in all of those places. All of those places are minimum-wage or close to it.

Who do you suppose should fill these open positions? Where do you feel those people will come from? They won't be in your neighborhood - your neighborhood is mostly retired people who have no interest in working anywhere at all, and don't have to, and have already earned their retirement.

You'll need younger folks, high school and college students, 20-somethings, to fill these positions. What pool of workers will they come from, if the Villages occupies most of the liveable real estate?

In my northern home in the suburbs we have public transit. Someone living on the same main street that crosses my neighborhood, but one town away, has to take TWO buses just to get to the Burger King in my town. That's a 1.5 hour bus trip, one way, to get to a part time job with zero benefits.

Meanwhile in the greater Boston area, you can buy a T pass and be at work within 20 minutes for the same mileage as in my suburban home, after a 2-block walk to the T station.

The Villages doesn't have any public transportation at all. There's no public bus, or public shuttle, or public tram. There's no way to get from Ocala or Leesburg to the Spanish Springs Win Dixie if you don't have a car, or pay for an Uber/Lyft driver.

Proximity to work is really important if you are a young person trying to earn money for college, or trying to stay in college, or trying to start out your working life and needing something to pay the bills while you persue your career.
Leesburg bus stops at Spanish springs bus station several times a day. Central Florida now where close to Boston population, transportation, or job opportunities
  #29  
Old 10-15-2019, 01:40 AM
RobertWR RobertWR is offline
Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 78
Thanks: 0
Thanked 52 Times in 23 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fredster View Post
Yes I can certainly relate to “economic disparity”
since I really experienced it first hand early in my working career!
Yet that experience really motivated me
make an effort to gain marketable skills and capabilities
that would enhance my financial situation!
I now believe there is always a silver lining
in every cloud, but sometimes you have to look real hard to find it!
Fredster I concur.

May I add to your last line, not just look real hard to find it but WORK real hard to find it!
  #30  
Old 10-15-2019, 08:37 AM
OrangeBlossomBaby OrangeBlossomBaby is offline
Sage
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 8,422
Thanks: 6,788
Thanked 9,370 Times in 3,050 Posts
Default

No need to demonize anyone cgilcreast. But it is still important for "people who don't live in poverty" to stop saying "just get a better job." Not everyone has that opportunity. Not everyone can. Even if you pulled yourself up by your bootstraps and sold widgets door to door until you scraped up enough money for your first widget store - that doesn't mean everyone can do that. Some people are just flat out not capable of it. Has nothing to do with laziness (though sure there are plenty of lazy people - including those who have inherited daddy's money and don't HAVE to work for a living).

And that's not even just retail. How much do you think the average produce-farm worker gets paid per hour? Do you think if they COULD do better, they probably would? If you think that's someone being lazy, I challenge you to try working for one some time. Spend 7 hours a day starting at 4 in the morning, hunched over on your knees pulling up cabbages.

Meanwhile, all those wealthier people get their services, and produce, and cereal, and underwear from - someone. Someone has to do all those low-paying jobs, because all those people who can afford to patronize those stores and companies, need someone to actually perform the tasks those people are paying for.

When you say "if you don't like a low paying job, get a better one" - well if everyone followed that advice, all of those places you spend your money at - will close. They would have no employees left to do all those things that customers need done.

So basically that kind of attitude is shooting yourself in the foot. You rely on low-paying low-skilled workers, whether you want to admit it or prefer to pretend it's not a HUGE part of your life.

The Villages is crawling through Central Florida at a pretty quick rate. And you're not seeing a whole lot of people moving to Central Florida in the hopes of getting a swanky gig at the local Target.
Closed Thread

Tags
pay, disparity, message, concern, economic

Thread Tools

You are viewing a new design of the TOTV site. Click here to revert to the old version.

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:52 AM.