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Business is booming, which is why wages are rising and there are more jobs than laborers. The headline is misleading because the author tried to focus on a hand

Business is booming, which is why wages are rising and there are more jobs than laborers. The headline is misleading because the author tried to focus on a handful of businesses who were behind the curve on their hiring requirements. The obvious retort is "raise wages", but that's exactly what one of the interviewed businesses is doing: > The Wacky Knacky Diner in Osage Beach, Mo., near the Lake of the Ozarks, boosted wages to $20 an hour, then added health benefits and a retention bonus. The article also notes that they found twice as many job listings offering hiring bonuses as compared to a year ago. The market is working as appropriate and the situation is sorting itself out. These headlines are starting to feel like clickbait. They also highlighted some other temporary and seasonal roadblocks, such as parents being at home while their kids are out of school: > A survey by Indeed found most job-seekers plan to start working within the next three months, but many are waiting for schools to reopen, vaccination levels to rise or for their personal savings — boosted by unemployment benefits and three rounds of federal relief payments — to run out The article is worth a read. There's more to it than the "just raise wages" comments.

kukx 5y ago
Well the fact there is more jobs than laborers can be explained by the government actions. If the government offers free money it rises the minimum wage that people are willing to accept. And if they do not produce more than before it means they are more expensive for the same quality/quantity and the prices will rise. The nominal numbers will get bigger eating away the savings that are kept in cash. Do not keep cash, invest or spend.
hardtke 5y ago
Many of these articles are about tourist towns that have had an influx of new residents and/or increased seasonal populations (in this case Hood River, Oregon and Lake of the Ozarks). I read an identical article yesterday about Ketchum, Idaho and last week about Telluride, CO. In such cases, the problem is two fold. There has been an increase in the total need for workers to serve the additional residents and visitors. At the same time, the supply of worker housing has gone down (and prices up). Raising wages is not enough to balance supply and demand since the housing market does not adjust quickly enough. I sometimes wonder if these towns are economically sustainable -- wages can never rise quickly enough across all necessary occupations to establish equilibrium with the outside money forcing workers out.

kukx 5y ago

Well the fact there is more jobs than laborers can be explained by the government actions. If the government offers free money it rises the minimum wage that people are willing to accept. And if they do not produce more than before it means they are more expensive for the same quality/quantity and the prices will rise. The nominal numbers will get bigger eating away the savings that are kept in cash. Do not keep cash, invest or spend.

hardtke 5y ago

Many of these articles are about tourist towns that have had an influx of new residents and/or increased seasonal populations (in this case Hood River, Oregon and Lake of the Ozarks). I read an identical article yesterday about Ketchum, Idaho and last week about Telluride, CO. In such cases, the problem is two fold. There has been an increase in the total need for workers to serve the additional residents and visitors. At the same time, the supply of worker housing has gone down (and prices up). Raising wages is not enough to balance supply and demand since the housing market does not adjust quickly enough. I sometimes wonder if these towns are economically sustainable -- wages can never rise quickly enough across all necessary occupations to establish equilibrium with the outside money forcing workers out.