[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by Chatbrat

NJ school teacher's here have six figure pensions,

Yea, OK. I have 2 of those "retired NJ school teachers" in my immediate family and I can assure you you aren't even in the standing room seats of the ballpark on that one. Maybe a principal or super? NJ pensions are public record, easy enough to look up. Also depends on district but I'll still guess that even isn't close.

[Velvet]

Yes, I was a bit taken aback too. I thought New Jersey must pay their teacher’s well.

[ColdNoMore]

Originally Posted by Velvet

Yes, I was a bit taken aback too. I thought New Jersey must pay their teacher’s well.

Don't worry, you're hunch is correct...it's totally fake news.

[champion6]

Back on topic -- at least for 1 post ...

Off the top of my head, I can think of 4 apartment living areas in Sumter County that have been announced:

Market rate apartments
Behind Lowe's in Lady Lake
Behind Lowe's in Wildwood (Trailwinds Village)
Expansion of Pepper Tree apartments

Rent subsidized apartments
South of 466 and west of CR 100

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by champion6

Back on topic -- at least for 1 post ...

Off the top of my head, I can think of 4 apartment living areas in Sumter County that have been announced:

Market rate apartments
Behind Lowe's in Lady Lake
Behind Lowe's in Wildwood (Trailwinds Village)
Expansion of Pepper Tree apartments

Rent subsidized apartments
South of 466 and west of CR 100

Depending on how the subsidized apartments are managed, this might all be very good news. Up here we have a mixed bag. Some of the subsidized are out-and-out slums, where the poor are kept poor by crime and drugs. Some of them are actually pretty lovely, where people accept a hand up, take pride in maintaining their little gardens and take advantage of community outreach and education/vocation opportunities, stay until they're stable, and then move onward and upward.

Hopefully the subsidized housing will be the latter and folks living there will gain income and upward mobility by occupying some of the jobs being created with new retail and office development.

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by Jazuela

Yes but as someone who DOES have to work, who has worked consistently for over 40 years, have worked sometimes 3 jobs both to make ends meet and to feel productive, who was planning on retiring before she turned 60, who now is forced to accept that this can't happen, I get offended when someone IMPLIES that the only people who choose not to work entry level jobs are either drug addicts or lazy. I shouldn't have to accept an entry level job. And if circumstances weren't such that my spouses' company eliminated his department and put him out of work 2 years before eligibility for social security, I would be among those people who choose not to accept entry level positions.

I am neither lazy nor drug addicted, I never have been. Turning this into a personal attack on me and my character is insulting, and I resent it.

The topic is: where will the resources come from, to staff all the new businesses in TV?

It's a good question, and I feel part of the reason it will be a problem, is because Florida underpays its entry level employees, and many employers on the corporate HR-decision-making level are completely oblivious to the issues regarding gainful employment, health insurance, the overall cost of living, and quality of life. Either that, or they just don't care. The cost of working can exceed the paycheck, when you have to pay for your health care.

That is total BS, Disney starts at $15.00 per hour and will put kids through college, give me a break. This country allows anyone who wants to work hard the ability to succeed in society. When I was a teenager I hauled garbage out of meat stores to have spending money, when I graduated from high school I worked as many hours as I could to make money doing anything legal, when I was employed full time I had a part time job also, I worked my ass off to be successful so don't give me that BS that society and your employers failed you. Any person that is in good health can make a good living in this country unless of course they are lazy. My kids are in their late 40's and all of them work 10 to 12 hours a day, that is how they were raised.

[Velvet]

What about quality of life? If you enjoy what you are doing (I did in each of my jobs) then it hardly counts as work. But if it is a job you only do because of the compensation then you must have time for other things too. Fundamentally, the question is; are you living to work, or are you working to live?

Some people take advantage; some employers want slaves, some employees want to be lazy or not work at all. Some women (or men) want to marry to be kept by someone instead of joining the labor force.

Looking at TV if we want to attract young people, or if we want to attract top professionals with young families, we need to make the place attractive to them. If by nothing else then by good compensation. Otherwise, we will get what we pay for... or what we deserve?

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Velvet

What about quality of life? If you enjoy what you are doing (I did in each of my jobs) then it hardly counts as work. But if it is a job you only do because of the compensation then you must have time for other things too. Fundamentally, the question is; are you living to work, or are you working to live?

Some people take advantage; some employers want slaves, some employees want to be lazy or not work at all. Some women (or men) want to marry to be kept by someone instead of joining the labor force.

Looking at TV if we want to attract young people, or if we want to attract top professionals with young families, we need to make the place attractive to them. If by nothing else then by good compensation. Otherwise, we will get what we pay for... or what we deserve?

You might get what you pay for AND what you deserve, if you approach the situation with the attitude that anyone who's healthy can get a decent job that pays the bills and allows them at least some modest quality of life. Not everyone who's healthy can. But if you (not you, Velvet, you seem to "get it" - I mean the editorial you) insist that must be true and no other possibility exists, then you dig your hole, and are stuck with whatever crawls out of it to serve you.

[Moderator]

The topic was where are resources going to come from to staff new businesses/services in The Villages.

Many replies have strayed far off topic or become personal.

Please stay on topic or the thread will be closed.

Feel free to start a new thread if this one has spurred the idea for a new topic.

Moderator

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Jazuela

The topic was "where will the resources come from?" Where will the people who need to fill the jobs for all these new stores come from?

Some folks here seem to think that these stores can easily get plenty of employees, except the potential employees are too lazy or on drugs to work for lower income levels.

I say that isn't necessarily true, and that this assumption displays an attitude of entitlement and privilege.

So far I haven't seen any posts in this thread to convince me otherwise.

I took issue when Jazuela used the term "entitled horse plucky".

What I was trying to say to Jazuela is that she doesn't even live here yet and she hasn't yet had more than a month of "boots on the ground" ability to accurately access this situation here in The Villages. The Villages is unique in that most people who live here do not care how much or how little money a person has or what anyone did in a past life. Most people who live here came from what today would be called "poor" and most of them could not afford to educate themselves past high school, so that MOST of the people arrived in this lovely place with experience of living carefully, many working long hours and two jobs and saving small amounts and investing wisely in real estate they probably lived in. I think they would be amused to be described as entitled, although many have achieved great things and some huge fortunes. That is what I am trying to say. I see your term "entitled" and raise you the term 'successful, formerly poor people.'

My argument is that this place will continue to grow as it has done, where residents buy from businesses staffed by people who come here to find work and the market will dictate the terms. Pay here is lower than it is on both coasts and the cost of living is too.

[valuemkt]

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

That is total BS, Disney starts at $15.00 per hour and will put kids through college, give me a break. This country allows anyone who wants to work hard the ability to succeed in society. When I was a teenager I hauled garbage out of meat stores to have spending money, when I graduated from high school I worked as many hours as I could to make money doing anything legal, when I was employed full time I had a part time job also, I worked my ass off to be successful so don't give me that BS that society and your employers failed you. Any person that is in good health can make a good living in this country unless of course they are lazy. My kids are in their late 40's and all of them work 10 to 12 hours a day, that is how they were raised.

Nice post !

[New Englander]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I took issue when Jazuela used the term "entitled horse plucky".

What I was trying to say to Jazuela is that she doesn't even live here yet and she hasn't yet had more than a month of "boots on the ground" ability to accurately access this situation here in The Villages. The Villages is unique in that most people who live here do not care how much or how little money a person has or what anyone did in a past life. Most people who live here came from what today would be called "poor" and most of them could not afford to educate themselves past high school, so that MOST of the people arrived in this lovely place with experience of living carefully, many working long hours and two jobs and saving small amounts and investing wisely in real estate they probably lived in. I think they would be amused to be described as entitled, although many have achieved great things and some huge fortunes. That is what I am trying to say. I see your term "entitled" and raise you the term 'successful, formerly poor people.'

My argument is that this place will continue to grow as it has done, where residents buy from businesses staffed by people who come here to find work and the market will dictate the terms. Pay here is lower than it is on both coasts and the cost of living is too.

Well said Gracie

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by Moderator

The topic was where are resources going to come from to staff new businesses/services in The Villages.

Many replies have strayed far off topic or become personal.

Please stay on topic or the thread will be closed.

Feel free to start a new thread if this one has spurred the idea for a new topic.

Moderator

OK, I think I'm on topic with my thoughts here.........

Lately, I've noticed our once pristine common grounds such as along roadsides and bordering golf courses are not pristine any more. One example is along Odell Circle, bordering one of the golf courses between Mallory Square and Amelia. The weeds and grass have grown right over a long stretch of the curb and are touching the street. I have always seen perfectly manicured and diamond edged grass along this area and all fo the roadways I have driven. It is pitiful to see how unkept some parts of The Villages has become.

I'm also seeing palm fronds down for weeks that have not been moved and this is not after a hurricane. It really looks trashy. The Villages used to be a pristine Utopia for lack of a better word. Not so much anymore.

Why is this happening? I honestly don't think there is a work force large enough to keep our beautiful community in the pristine condition it used to be in. The Villages has grown so much and is only growing larger. There must be so many jobs out there for landscapers but not enough reliable workers to fill the positions.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by LuvtheVillages

There is not sufficient affordable housing. There is a limit to how far folks are willing to drive to get here to work.

More and more job opportunities to come....insufficient work force to fill the current jobs.
!

Workforce housing will be built behind Lowes on 466A and on the Beaumont property next to Lowes. A good start, but more is needed.

There is a labor shortage in every industry, nationwide. The only answer is immigration. We need to develop a LEGAL way to bring in the people who want to work. Where else will we find the landscapers, the CNAs, the housekeepers, the waiters, and those who will take care of us, and also pay taxes into the system.[/QUOTE]


There is legal way, and has been for 100 years. the problem is all the illegal line jumpers

[Boomer]

Our Current Workforce: Where? Why? My Take on Today’s Economic Impact on Those Now Working, Many Without Benefits and at Low Pay and My Thoughts on Timelines and Percentages:
—
As an early Boomer, I would never presume to have the right to lecture adults far younger than me about the current economics of the everyday lives of hardworking people. It’s an apples to oranges thing.

May I invite those among us who are early Boomers and beyond to “Return with me now to those thrilling days of yesteryear.” (At our age, you picked up on that allusion. )

In our age group, we remember when we never really had to give much, if any, thought to healthcare costs. In fact, I had a shoebox where I kept receipts for prescription drugs that we had paid for and then, after quite a while, sent them to the insurance company for reimbursement.

Then came the drug card — the Trojan Horse. People loved flashing that plastic. Meanwhile, Big Pharma could just keep on raising prices, behind the scenes, while the consumer was “happy” with the convenience and no “cost” with the drug card. Now, drug prices are out of control, even some old generics. (Please spare me the old line about research and the pipeline. Yeah. I know. And while, of course, drug companies should be innovating and moving ahead, that is not the whole picture — just the old company line.)

And as far as the overall costs of health insurance coverage goes — premiums, OP, etc., look up the stock price, including the 52-week high and low, of UNH (United Healthcare). Lots of money has been made by stockholders, and, of course, CEOs while the little people foot the bills for all that profit. Doctors now, too often, must fall under the control of the contracted insurance companies, rather than being able to practice medicine as they want and know how to do. (And please spare me from being called a commie pinko or some such thing. I have a comfort level with owning stocks. But I choose them myself. I refuse to own stock in an insurance company because I do not want to own a piece of people not being able to afford or get what they need while huge profits are being made. I can find other stocks to buy.)

My point, one of them anyway, is that the percentage of income that must be paid for healthcare coverage by those a generation behind us is far beyond what we had to pay in our working years. Healthcare is a mess and I think the answer is somewhere in the middle. But nobody wants to work on middle-ground answers anymore.

Another ridiculous percentage cost is the percentage of family income that a college education costs now. Young people often have to begin their adult lives saddled with mind-boggling debt, even if they work along the way. I think my entire first year of college was less than $1500. Of course, that was a long time ago, but even so, that amount was not an impossible, overwhelming percentage of my family’s income, and it was an amount of money that it was actually possible for students to make a dent in by working and saving for along the way. I find today’s college costs to be an obscenity, especially when looked at as a percentage of a working family’s income.

The other thing that is happening more and more, to those younger than us, is that companies are “downsizing” with an all too obvious hit on their older employees who are likely to be costing the company more in salary. Actually, this started before now, but an awareness of age-discrimination once seemed to be given a little more thought — not always but sometimes. Now it seems like open season. Too many stories around of those being hit in their highest earning years but before eligibility for SS and Medicare and at an age making it far more difficult to find a good job with benefits.

Therefore, my fellow elder-Boomers and Beyond, I am just saying that before going into that monotonous lecture mode like Charlie Brown’s teacher (remember that, “Wah. Wah. Wah.” thing) I think we need to stop and think about where we have been in this country’s timeline. We knew the days when the middle class was the backbone of this country, built this country. We are losing our middle class, the backbone is breaking under ridiculous, impossible percentage-of-income costs of things we took for granted.