Labor Shortages: Myth and Reality

[Caladan 19]

I'm not an economist, but I remember from some undergrad level class I took that an economy running at 5% unemployment is considered pretty much optimized. That's the point at which economists assume that everyone who wants to find work can, so a rate of 4.6% pretty much means it's operating at full capacity.

Of course, there's a difference between being employed at Wal-Mart and on Wall Street.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Yep - most economist consider 5% to be "full employment." Also economists like a little unemployment - it keeps inflation down.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Economists like Rosenberg argue that in a market economy, there's really no such thing as a true shortage. If you want more of something, you can pay more and have it. When employers say that there's a worker shortage, what they really mean is they can't get enough workers at the price they want to pay, the argument goes.

That's a valid argument. I know I could hire loads of qualified staff if I offered 50% more than what we currently offer. But HR says: NO.

[mawilson 2,133]

Good! The less workers the better.

How do you figure how that works? For example, if the city of Houston has a shortage of teachers by about 200, how can that be better unless you support importing teachers from another state or country?

Well....the city of Houston wouldn't be 200 teachers short if they didn't have 200,000 illegals

and 20,000 illegal kids needing teachers, now would they?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Good! The less workers the better.

How do you figure how that works? For example, if the city of Houston has a shortage of teachers by about 200, how can that be better unless you support importing teachers from another state or country?

Well....the city of Houston wouldn't be 200 teachers short if they didn't have 200,000 illegals

and 20,000 illegal kids needing teachers, now would they?

Good point.

[Ban Hammer 14,569]

Good! The less workers the better.

How do you figure how that works? For example, if the city of Houston has a shortage of teachers by about 200, how can that be better unless you support importing teachers from another state or country?

Well....the city of Houston wouldn't be 200 teachers short if they didn't have 200,000 illegals

and 20,000 illegal kids needing teachers, now would they?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

Good! The less workers the better.

I never understood why all the Left leaning loonies on this forum are so pro-illegal alien and have a let-'em-all-in mentality.

It's about as smart as pissing in an electrical receptical...it's not in your best interests.

Watch Myth Busters pissing on an electrical receptical will do nothing... piss is not a good conductor

[mendeleev 69]

Labor shortages aren't a problem only in the USA. Today's (or maybe yesterday's) Financial Times had an article on a recent report in Germany that labor shortages there are costing about 2% of German GDP. Given the fact that Germany continues to be the economic engine of the EU, this may grow into a substantial problem for Europe as a whole.

The biggest issues seem to be not raw supply of labor, but supply of adequately skilled labor needed for many jobs in our (American and European) economies.

[trailmix 77]

I live in a City (in Canada) with a major labor shortage. What's it like? Well the wages haven't really gone up much, rather than pay higher wages most companies choose to work under-staffed.

One can also assume that in a place where there is a labor shortage there is work available, so we have had huge population growth which equates to a strain on all services, house prices tripling in the last 3 years and a huge increase in rents (with fewer places to rent because many people are being evicted so the owners can convert their buildings to privately owned complexes).

Whether you are having quadruplets and get flown to Montana to have them (this happened to a woman here last week as they didn't have enough beds as there aren't enough people) or you just want to go to Wendy's for a burger and find it closed (they just leave the drive through open) or you want to pay for an item at a store and stand in a long line with no cash aisles opening (because yes - there is no one there) it's a huge annoyance!

Interestingly companies have sprung up here where you can now 'import' a worker from Mexico for $2500.00, plus airfare, they get to work here for a year. First the company must prove they have advertised and are paying a fair wage.

http://calgarytalk.com/bbs/forum4/264.html

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

Just think what would really happen if the labor is lost? Would factories pay more or relocate to China? My wife is from Mexico and believe me alot of the companies in Mexico have thought about moving to China. As for farming, they would be forced to build machinery that would do the work and the machinery would be built in China. We would continue to increase the trade deficit, is this better for our economy? The only jobs left would be highly skilled jobs which have no unions, by the way these type jobs are already being outsourced to India because labor is cheaper. Companies are going to do what makes the most profits and stay competitive, this is the American way.

What is the best solution for the US? As a citizen we can not just vote for people that we believe will vote as we would want but also we should be letting them know the issues that are important to us. Who gives the ideas to our representatives to come up with new laws?

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

I was in Calgary last month and it is that way!

[Caladan 19]

Edmonton is much the same now. The housing market has exploded, McDonald's starts hiring at $13 an hour (minimum wage is somewhere around $7 or so), and it takes 18 months to get a house built because there are no contractors. It's a good market to be looking for a job in, but it's pretty crazy for everything else.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Labor shortages aren't a problem only in the USA. Today's (or maybe yesterday's) Financial Times had an article on a recent report in Germany that labor shortages there are costing about 2% of German GDP. Given the fact that Germany continues to be the economic engine of the EU, this may grow into a substantial problem for Europe as a whole.

Germany continues to run double digit unemployment rates. Not sure how one can argue that there are labor shortages. I think if companies would get over their distaste for the long-term unemployed then there would be much less of an issue.

[Heracles 417]

Good! The less workers the better.

How do you figure how that works? For example, if the city of Houston has a shortage of teachers by about 200, how can that be better unless you support importing teachers from another state or country?

Well....the city of Houston wouldn't be 200 teachers short if they didn't have 200,000 illegals

and 20,000 illegal kids needing teachers, now would they?

But who is paying for those teachers. It sure isn't the illegal immigrants..