Please, I Beg You, Stop Saying People Don’t Want To Work
The Complicated Story of Worker Shortages
The security video was grainy, but you could see what was happening. A young worker was being pelted with cups and other items from the window. She hovered in the back, clearly scared. The video had no audio, but I am sure we can imagine what insults were being hurled at her. The outside camera showed another angle: a couple at the window yelling and throwing things.
At a restaurant, a woman was waiting for her to-go order. She had been waiting a while. The server was apologetic but explained that she was the only worker at the takeout counter, and they were down to one cook. The server looked to be on the edge of tears as another customer entered, angry, and said, “I’ve been waiting in my car for 10 minutes!”.
At the grocery store, a young man brings out a mobile order 20 minutes after it was due. As the back door opens, you can see the trepidation in his eyes as he readies himself for the reaction of the driver. “I’m so sorry; I am the only one here doing the shopping and the deliveries”.
These stories are not unique; they happen every day in every place across the country. Some are extreme. Some are innocuous. But there is a common refrain, “No one wants to work any more!”. Or, the more sinister, “It pays more to be on unemployment; no one wants to work any more!”.
The United States is a post-industrial society. Post-industrial societies are unique because they have moved from an industrial economy to one that is dependent on technology and low wage workers to perform service jobs. In other parts of the world, post-industrial societies have recognized that their economies hinge on the service workers. They provide universal healthcare, childcare, and elder care because they know that the lifeblood is wrapped up in the workers.
The United States is unique as a post-industrial society because it seemingly has not realized this.
The United States has not raised the minimum wage since 2009. Pew Research shows that average hourly earnings peaked more than 45 years ago, and the growth in wages in the past few years has gone to the top earners. This was even before a global pandemic hit that wiped out most economic gains across the globe.
Oh, that’s right, we are still in a pandemic. That is another pretty critical variable to consider.
Fears related to COVID-19 are critical; workers have expressed that many of them do not feel safe and supported at work. They have children that have had on and off schooling. They have seen an uptick in angry and frustrated patrons that don’t want to comply with the rules. These are factors to consider when talking about worker shortages.
However, it’s far more complicated than just COVID. Our labor shortages are very much a mirror of our society: complex, large, intertwined, and frustratingly difficult to explain.
Take the mother who hasn’t returned to the workforce because childcare and transportation costs outweigh her wages. It doesn’t behoove her to search for a job if that job won’t cover those costs. In addition, she might not even be able to find childcare because daycare centers are having such a hard time keeping staff. This example is a common one. This mother is not a lazy person that doesn’t want to work. She is doing the math and it doesn’t add up.
For decades, the economy and its structure have worked for employers. One wonders if we are in a shift that will have it playing for the employees. As workers go on a general strike (some are calling it the Great Resignation), employers will have to reckon with a situation they have benefitted from for many years.
What the research doesn’t show is as critical as what it does show: our unemployment benefits have not had a profound impact on workers quitting jobs. Vaccine mandates have had even less of an effect. These narratives are simply not playing out in the data, even as the anecdotes pile up.
We are in a major reckoning in this country when it comes to employment. We have an opportunity to change the status quo, but time will tell if we take it. Until then, we will all feel the pain of labor shortages. It would behoove us to show a little kindness.
