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They quit for a variety of reasons (location closer to family, pay raise, try something different, the usual), although we're seeing more retirements than usual. The retirements were expected, since there was a big hiring bubble in this industry in the early 1980s. We did have a few people die of COVID as well. As I stated, this is the worst shortage I've seen in 35+ years. We had a pretty severe shortage in late 2019 early 2020. Things slowed down severely in early 2021 and we had to RIF some people, but nothing compared to how many we now need to hire. In fact, we kept quite a few (far more than were RIFed) on overhead for months in anticipation of work coming in late Q2 of 2021. There is an honest-to-goodness labor shortage in the software development industry and it's nationwide. We have sites all over the country (the world, actually) and every single one can't hire enough people.
All that offshoring to India and sending work over to India/China since the mid-90's has finally come back to bite the US. It rippled through the colleges and less and less Americans took up software engineering.
Oh I share your sympathies as a retired software engineer. When I retired my job went to India.
It is far from "obvious." The amount of money paid out in stimulus and unemployment is not enough to explain millions of unfilled jobs. It's a complex problem, a lot of it has to do with a mismatch between the skills that the unemployed have versus jobs available. Also, some applicants are refusing to accept jobs with high levels of Covid exposure.
But then the big question is ...where are they getting money from if not work or the government ?
That's a lot of people and they aren't even looking for work since UE is at 5%...the norm for UE.
And the indicator of a true labor shortage is pay competition with rising wages to attract the workers.
That is not happening from what I read. I only read the lamenting that places cannot find workers.
Someone else posted about the covid deaths.
But over 80% of those deaths were 70+...that's not the workforce demographic.
The real shortage is employers who pay a livable wage.
I don't disagree with this statement in general but I do likely disagree with who gets to determine what a "livable wage" is. My hourly pay for a job after school in the early 90s was $4.25. I am not saying that was a "livable wage" then, but here I am. :
Several hundred thousand people have died so far of Covid, not all of them retired or unemployed. That's a lot of workers to lose permanently. And for the positions of those who died due to exposure at work, it's not easy to entice new employees to work under the same conditions. Hence, supply chain issues in industries where those conditions are the norm.
Additionally, if I recall correctly, a large number of illegal workers returned to their home countries when jobs were cut due to the pandemic. America is more dependent upon illegal labor than we want to acknowledge.
Hundreds of thousands people die every year, millions actually.
It seems a lot of the positions that have gone unfilled are unskilled positions. To my knowledge there hasnt been a big wave of ff and retail employees dying of Covid. A large percentage were nursing home patients and elderly.
We have thousands of illegals crossing into the US every day.
I do believe mask mandates are causing some to quit or be fired and the older workers are just taking early retirement or quitting but that doesnt account for such a national labor shortage. The unemployment rate is relatively low.
Huge problem with babysitters and daycare. My daughter can’t keep a babysitter (20 hours a week for $18.50 hour)because skilled nannies want full-time and she and will probably have to stop working again (as a geriatric nurse practitioner) until childcare can be more reliable. Maybe when the little ones can all be vaccinated. The daycare at her hospital has closed multiple times due to Covid among the staff. Sad for everyone.
I really feel for mothers who need to make mortgage payments and feed the kids.
This is so true.
We have an employee who has lost so much work because her kids daycare keeps closing for two weeks at a time because of exposures. She has no other daycare option. At least her husband has been able to keep working.
I would also say no employer is entitled to workers that ate paid a low wage though many think they are. Where is it written these jobs are not supposed to be careers? I have yet for someone to explain where they came up with that. That is exactly what is happening employees do not want to work for low wages so they are not applying for these jobs. Supply and demand.
Because many of these jobs have historically been minimum wage jobs and part time jobs with little to no room for advancement. Minimum wage has not been known to be a job that can afford one to support a family or live independently and comfortably with a nice house/apartment, descent vehicle, etc.
No employers are not entitled either. It is supply and demand. Employers will pay what the market dictates and what they can afford to make a profit and stay in business. We are seeing that shift now with many fast food places and retail increasing wages and often having to cut back in other places like hour and number of employees and raising prices.
I stopped at the wal mart to get gas on my way to work this morning about 6:45. I saw an employee and told her the pump wasnt working and she said they were closed. (Walmart open 24/7 was closed) because they decreased their hours and dont have enough employees, she said.
Where is it written these jobs are not supposed to be careers?
Um - I'd say on the offer sheet. It's written right there - when you see the amount you're about to earn. Then you add it up and see if it can support a family, a home, a car, insurance, and so on.
Where is it written these jobs are not supposed to be careers?
Um - I'd say on the offer sheet. It's written right there - when you see the amount you're about to earn. Then you add it up and see if it can support a family, a home, a car, insurance, and so on.
If not - then it's not supposed to be a career.
However since the employer doesn't offer career benefits that golden egg of employment does not exist to lure folks in and they now have better options. So the business not only has to compete for customers but for labor. Telling the potential labor that I see you as a student is not cutting it anymore.
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