So I get the food industry. Very tips based, hard work, hit hard by the Kung flu blah blah but damn it seems like EVERYWHERE I go or call etc. they need help.

I am calling around for some long overdue vehicle maintenance and everybody is basically we don’t have enough folks it’s gonna be a month or more blah blah.

I mean MECHANICS!!??

Doctors
Food service
Mechanics
Lowes depot
Etc. Etc.

Did everybody figure out how to quit their job? Am I the only asshole still having to work for a living. Did my Star Trek replicator get lost in the mail? Inquiring minds want to know.

Chris

I haven't quit my job but chances are pretty good my shop is gonna be down a veteran chiller mechanic / automation specialist very soon when they terminate me for not submitting to the injection mandate.

Doubt the average citizen is scheduling a site visit with us at the moment though.

Several factors at play here, including:

1) Skilled trades have had a major shortage of workers for some times now. This includes stuff like electricians, plumbers, mechanics, welders, etc. We're reaping the whirlwind of a generation or three of kids being told by a plethora of parents and educators "if you don't go to college and get a degree, you won't amount to anything". Now we have plenty of 17th century French art history degree-holders, but fewer tradesmen. This isn't COVID-related, but the whole funky COVID labor market situation certainly exacerbated/accelerated the problem that's been snowballing for quite some time.

2) Child care costs have spiked, post-COVID, due to high demand vs. low supply of child care options. A larger that usual number of families have discovered that it's now cheaper for one parent to stay home and take care of the kids than it is for both parents to work while paying someone else to care for the kids. So all these new stay-at-home parents puts a big dent in the number of available workers.

3) Handouts like unemployment benefits, stimulus payments, and eviction moratoriums have disincentivized a certain portion of the population from working. This isn't 100% of the problem, and may not even be the majority of the problem now that the pandemic-fueled gravy train has been (or is being) shut off, but it's the one that still tends to get most of the attention.

4) Lack of workers has led to employer desperation, lower hiring standards, and higher wages in some job fields. As a result, people are finding that they can more easily transition from a lower paying job into a higher paying and more stable job. This is partly why there's such a shortage of lower-level transitory stuff like waitresses/fast food workers/customer service center call takers/etc... Many of the people that want to work and who would normally take those kinds of jobs have found better jobs elsewhere.

Auto dealerships are starting to see many long time employees age out and retire as soon as they can due to physical wear and tear on their bodies.

Also, dealer groups that own large blocks of dealerships over small and large geographic areas can play the game "this is how much we will pay and no more". I've seen this, been a victim of it myself when I was in the business, not pretty.

Nothing like "adjusting" your staff's pay plans downward while buying yourself another vacation home, buying your wife a new Bentley (not one of the dealerships you own either) and flaunting it in front of the team that made it possible. I'm not saying that the dealers are not deserving of making money or spending it on themselves but when you fly 20-30 family members to the Carribean over Christmas while cutting out 401k matches of two cents on the dollar you start to say "hmmm".

Auto dealer groups, bottom line profit is all they want to see anymore. Forget the old mantra, keep the money in your community, profits go to the corporate headquarters.

When this happens many things go on, some change employers, retire, semi retire or change careers. I knew of one long time tech that quit, went to work for a national chain retailer as building maintenance. 40 hour week and better benefits.

Another thing happening is that a lot of the auto manufacturers and contractors that build for the manufacturers are expanding their R&D facilities, the older more experienced technicians and support staff can go to these concerns and be paid in many cases for a 40 hour week plus overtime, no more flat rate percentage and the ups and downs of that system.

As a result the "technicians" coming in, while they may have had vocational training as a prerequesete their real hands on experience consisted of changing oil at a quick lube shop instead under the wing of a experienced technicial asin the past. It takes a long time to come up to speed.

Adding on to the first list of several factors are a few things I've heard personally.

Like it or not, a lot of the kitchen staff in restaurants and construction workers were from Mexico. When everything shut down, when there was so much uncertainty, they left and went back. The reason they were working here in the first place was to make money, since they couldn't, they went home. Restaurant managers I've talked to said that at least half their original kitchen staff was in this situation, and now "There's only so many ex-cons to go around that they could hire."

Tradesmen, truck drivers, and the like who were nearing retirement age did simply retire.

Now, it's going to be interesting. I've seen several folks I know decide to leave their jobs (railroad, IT, etc) rather than follow the mandates. Even a couple who got the shot but refuse on principle.

Manufacturing is the same way.
Since March I've struggled to keep people. I did give everyone a $3 per hour raise and got a few people in that have stayed.
I've also had more than I can count come in work a day, Hell an hour for one person and just walk out.
Its been some tough months.

There has been a big shortage of good Mechanics since before covid. Around here most auto shops that are good you are lucky to get in in under 18 days. Back in the old days high school auto shop was common. Very few high schools have a an auto shop program these days. I went through the auto shop program in 77-78, learned a lot. Out of my group 3 people became full time pro mechanics for their career. You just don't see this kind of stuff in high school anymore. A friend has his own auto shop in a small town he always has 2+ weeks of work lined up. The schools have really discouraged blue collar workers for decades I think this was a large mistake because well someone has to fix your car or build your house.

quote:

Originally posted by joatmonv:
Manufacturing is the same way.
Since March I've struggled to keep people. I did give everyone a $3 per hour raise and got a few people in that have stayed.
I've also had more than I can count come in work a day, Hell an hour for one person and just walk out.
Its been some tough months.

Damn. I work in manufacturing too and our daily call off log is ridiculous! Almost daily we have to shut presses down just so the people who actually came to work can take their breaks/lunches.

^^ We have the same, but you ain't getting the bosses to shut shit down. We've had open shifts for over a year. Now they're paying the new guys the same rate as the experienced ones from day one just to get people in the door and they likely still won't stay.

Adding to what KOZZZ said - there are also VISA's called J-1's. They are supposed to involve some type of cultural learning. The US Hospitality industry is very reliant on the J-1 program - thus the massive shortages in many parts of the US.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfe 21:
^^ We have the same, but you ain't getting the bosses to shut shit down. We've had open shifts for over a year.

Same at my place if it weren't for the hourly folks being UAW

We are UAW too. Don't mean diddly here. We're only ~320 hourly employees. Not enough for union support. We're also a steel mill, so why they didn't pick a steel workers union I'll never know.

I work on medical imaging equipment and it’s the same. Had six guys covering 3 states, DC, and a little of WV. 2 took new jobs a couple weeks before the Covid lockdowns, leaving 4. I and another guy were given all their equipment on top of our own.
The other guy has been out on medical leave the last couple months and may retire if he doesn’t heal up. I was supposed to transfer in company this may, the other guys leaving caused that to fall through. No one new was hired for nearly a year. One quit almost immediately when he found out he actually had to work. The one who stayed has so many excuses why he can’t do things it isn’t funny.
The answer from the bosses? I get messages that “OT is approved”. I can only work so much. I’m running 30-40 hours OT every couple weeks. I haven’t seen my son in 2 months. If I didn’t have a lease I can’t afford to break I’d have quit this year. The only plus to this is I’ve brought my credit score from 670 to 810 or so. If I had a little more coming in other than from work I’d just walk away myself. Between the stress and becoming suddenly diabetic after I lost 60 lbs I may still have to walk away. It’s affecting my health. I’m just done and find little reason to care. All work wants is to run us in the ground and save money by not getting new folks. I’m seriously contemplating quitting this job when my lease is up and moving down near my kid. I think I’d rather live in a shack with no job than continue this.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: buddy357,

It’s a regular occurrence for myself and other managers to miss lunch/dinner or just inhale something in a couple minutes because we have to cover for all the call outs and no call no shows.

Drove home yesterday from Pensacola for my oldest daughter’s wedding. Stopped in Live Oak, along I10, for gas and food. Stopped at 3 separate fast food places and the lobbies were all closed due to manning. Seemed odd.

My work (bakery) closed it's doors in August. We could not find reliable help, my boss lady who was working the most hours started having health problems and two of my co-workers found new jobs closer to home on the other side of town.

We had gone from being open M-Sat. Then M-F. Then Tues-F.

I'm currently helping my brother w/ some side work. No hurry once that is done as there seems to be a lot available.

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:
We had gone from being open M-Sat. Then M-F. Then Tues-F.

That seems to be the case with a number of small mom-and-pop restaurants around here. Lots of them are cutting back on their hours due to lack of workers. Some are now only open Weds-Sat. Some are now only open for breakfast and lunch, or for just lunch, or just dinner.

Inflation is at a good 40% at minimum.

These assholes will be begging for work soon.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
Inflation is at a good 40% at minimum.

These assholes will be begging for work soon.

5.39%

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
Inflation is at a good 40% at minimum.

These assholes will be begging for work soon.

5.39%

Pretty close.