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> The future of agricultural work has arrived here in Florida, promising to ease labor shortages and reduce the cost of food There is no labor shortage. There'

> The future of agricultural work has arrived here in Florida, promising to ease labor shortages and reduce the cost of food There is no labor shortage. There's a bunch of growers whining about having to raise wages to attract workers. Even 25$/hour isn't that great if you factor in the opportunity cost of seasonal work. Raising prices and going out of business are valid options for entrepreneurs. That's how the market allocates resources. Unprofitable work is inefficient. > He pays his workers between $10 and $14 hourly. They’re mostly local folks. > “A lot of Americans have become lazy,” Carrigan said. “They want a paycheck. They don’t want a job.” More like a lot of Americans have better things to do than doing seasonal work for 10$ to 14$ an hour. Good for them!

ataturk 8y ago
They want work that doesn't leave them working poor--they're not stupid, in other words! $10-$14/hr is almost EVERY JOB out there now except high-tech, lawyering, doctoring, and a few other things. When I looked around at what else I might do besides write code for a living, I was stunned at how little most people make. With inflation, Americans have actually fallen backwards in pay. Most blue collar people have 2-3 jobs and have to really hustle to make ends meet and they're still behind on the bills or lack insurance or make their car payment every other month. It's disgusting, and it's all due to how corporations have manipulated us and manipulated government while importing slave labor (e.g. non-citizens who fear any legal situation) on the low end. None of this was an accident, none of it.
logfromblammo 8y ago
Seasonal work at $10-$14/hour is not sufficient to support a person still living in the US during the off-season. The employer is relying on that worker's ability to find work in other seasons, or to decamp to a less costly locale. Even full-time, year-round work at $14/hour is a poverty-level wage by census thresholds for a household size of 5 or more. A lot of Americans have become pinched by increasing living costs and stagnant wages. They haven't become lazy; they just haven't become more stupid. Working a job has actual costs and opportunity costs. Does the nearest bus route have stops near your farm? Do workers have to cover their own insurance costs? Are they eligible for benefits that would be cut if they have earned income? Could they earn more in another job with better working conditions? The expectation Americans have is, like people in other countries, that if they work all day on a job that can't be easily done by a robot, they should earn enough to be able to support themselves without further supplementation via welfare programs or charity. When housing costs and healthcare costs go up, that means the opportunity cost of living near enough to a farm to work on it, and assuming the risks of working on a farm, makes the wage minus the implicit costs of working there less than the profit of working for a lower absolute wage at a business in town. These people calling workers lazy have no idea how much it costs people just to come to work for them. If they did, they would be clamoring for socialized medicine and public housing, instead of fighting it.

ataturk 8y ago

They want work that doesn't leave them working poor--they're not stupid, in other words! $10-$14/hr is almost EVERY JOB out there now except high-tech, lawyering, doctoring, and a few other things. When I looked around at what else I might do besides write code for a living, I was stunned at how little most people make. With inflation, Americans have actually fallen backwards in pay. Most blue collar people have 2-3 jobs and have to really hustle to make ends meet and they're still behind on the bills or lack insurance or make their car payment every other month. It's disgusting, and it's all due to how corporations have manipulated us and manipulated government while importing slave labor (e.g. non-citizens who fear any legal situation) on the low end. None of this was an accident, none of it.

logfromblammo 8y ago

Seasonal work at $10-$14/hour is not sufficient to support a person still living in the US during the off-season. The employer is relying on that worker's ability to find work in other seasons, or to decamp to a less costly locale. Even full-time, year-round work at $14/hour is a poverty-level wage by census thresholds for a household size of 5 or more. A lot of Americans have become pinched by increasing living costs and stagnant wages. They haven't become lazy; they just haven't become more stupid. Working a job has actual costs and opportunity costs. Does the nearest bus route have stops near your farm? Do workers have to cover their own insurance costs? Are they eligible for benefits that would be cut if they have earned income? Could they earn more in another job with better working conditions? The expectation Americans have is, like people in other countries, that if they work all day on a job that can't be easily done by a robot, they should earn enough to be able to support themselves without further supplementation via welfare programs or charity. When housing costs and healthcare costs go up, that means the opportunity cost of living near enough to a farm to work on it, and assuming the risks of working on a farm, makes the wage minus the implicit costs of working there less than the profit of working for a lower absolute wage at a business in town. These people calling workers lazy have no idea how much it costs people just to come to work for them. If they did, they would be clamoring for socialized medicine and public housing, instead of fighting it.