America's Labor shortage

Is there really a labor shortage?The October 2021 employment numbers recorded over 523,000 jobs created. I see hiring notices everywhere in Florida, but wonder if there really is such a shortage. Or the employer's doing something that makes a potential employee not want to work for them. An example is an employer not paying enough, what benefits are included. Are employers discriminating against seniors that apply for the position? There can be many factors that are fueling the labor shortage. In this age of covid-19 people are evaluating their lives. No one is willing to sacrifice their lives for $8 an hour. Americans are refusing to work for so little, especially with covid-19 being a dangerous Factor on the job. Half the country is unvaccinated so the workers don't feel safe. The possibility of an unvaccinated person coming into their job has scared potential workers away. There are many low-wage jobs that are hiring people but positions are not being filled. Americans will learn to live with covid 19 as more variants of covid are mutated. This disease is not going anywhere and is just mutating into different variants due to the unvaccinated.

The vaccine mandate is causing some Americans to avoid finding or keeping a job because they don’t want to vaccinate. The politicization of the covid 19 vaccine has really hurt America and its progress of trying to end the pandemic. The unvaccinated keep dying from covid and spreading it to the vaccinated, creating an endless cycle in the pandemic.

Many are blaming the tax credits for people with children, these people get a check from the IRS for each child. This policy is still in force. Many believe that this is an incentive for people not to work. Since they received these benefits about every month.

Another factor for labor shortages is that many people are working side hustles that have been their primary income. When America was on lockdown there were many that lost their jobs. Many small businesses closed because they didn't have the funds to operate during the pandemic. These were strict rules that the businesses could reopen. The pandemic affected many businesses that couldn't operate under these rules. Many closed and many lost their jobs. In this economy, people have started side hustles or gigs to create income during these tough times. The gig economy is growing as people look for a permanent gig that they hope to grow. Hard work and Ingenuity fuel people to continue in their self-created jobs. Many Americans saw how their positions were not secure under the pandemic and have decided to become their own boss under the gig economy.

Many people in the restaurant and Hospitality business suffered great losses. Slowly this industry is coming back although there is a labor shortage.

Inflation in gas prices is another factor, why Americans aren't returning to work. The high price of gas at the pump is making it less affordable for Americans that drive to work. Americans that have had no income for months would find it hard to fill their gas tanks to go to work. The labor shortage is fueling inflation because goods are not being delivered to the supply chain in a timely manner. Inflation and labor shortage are tied together, some analysts think that the labor shortage will continue into 2022. Inflation is increasing because businesses are paying higher wages to retain the current employees they have. Many Americans are quitting their jobs at a record pace. “As of August 2021, there were 10.4 million unfilled jobs in America”. Therefore affecting the economy’s growth.

The economy is slowly coming back despite the inflation and soon all of these jobs will be filled as Americans learn to live with covid 19 and its many variants.

1. Total unfilled job vacancies for the United States FRED fred.stlouisfed.org