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The market is this tight in part because birth rate is dropping like a rock. It's dropping like a rock because having a child is either unaffordable or too much

by m0zg 8y ago

The market is this tight in part because birth rate is dropping like a rock. It's dropping like a rock because having a child is either unaffordable or too much pain in the ass to deal with. The companies will have to see a bit beyond their next quarterly revenues to see reason in having a sane labor market in the future. I'd also like to see large tech companies (which constantly complain about the "shortage of talent") pitch in on the education/training side of things, without externalizing those costs to the taxpayer and worker.

partiallypro 8y ago
I don't disagree that governments should be incentivizing reproduction (at least that is my position) the problem is that in this particular instance, the Gates Foundation was not having their cost offset by government and they were just losing workers for a year at a time on their own tab. Yes, Gates is a very rich man, but in the end that really takes away from their charitable work for people that need things a lot more than an extra 6 months. For other companies it takes away even more, and in some cases can outright drive them out of business or cause companies to just hire less women.
- m0zg 8y ago
  What's the problem with letting them work part-time from home while they're rearing their newborn? Maybe show up at the office with their newborn once a week to catch up in person. I don't get it. It's not like the work typically conducted at such foundations requires them to be in the office 100% of the time.
  - saint_fiasco 8y ago
    The problem is that in many places that would be illegal.
x220 8y ago
>It's dropping like a rock because having a child is either unaffordable or too much pain in the ass to deal with Why is it that everyone leaves the invention of the birth control pill out of this conversation? It is likely more significant (in its effects on the world) than the invention of nuclear weapons.
- kelnos 8y ago
  Because people are choosing not to have children, or to have fewer children than they have in the past. Sure, better birth control methods make it easier to realize those choices, but... so what? The alternative is we end up with many more unwanted children, which I hope we agree isn't a good outcome either.

by m0zg 8y ago

partiallypro 8y ago

I don't disagree that governments should be incentivizing reproduction (at least that is my position) the problem is that in this particular instance, the Gates Foundation was not having their cost offset by government and they were just losing workers for a year at a time on their own tab. Yes, Gates is a very rich man, but in the end that really takes away from their charitable work for people that need things a lot more than an extra 6 months. For other companies it takes away even more, and in some cases can outright drive them out of business or cause companies to just hire less women.

m0zg 8y ago
What's the problem with letting them work part-time from home while they're rearing their newborn? Maybe show up at the office with their newborn once a week to catch up in person. I don't get it. It's not like the work typically conducted at such foundations requires them to be in the office 100% of the time.
- saint_fiasco 8y ago
  The problem is that in many places that would be illegal.

x220 8y ago

>It's dropping like a rock because having a child is either unaffordable or too much pain in the ass to deal with Why is it that everyone leaves the invention of the birth control pill out of this conversation? It is likely more significant (in its effects on the world) than the invention of nuclear weapons.

kelnos 8y ago
Because people are choosing not to have children, or to have fewer children than they have in the past. Sure, better birth control methods make it easier to realize those choices, but... so what? The alternative is we end up with many more unwanted children, which I hope we agree isn't a good outcome either.