I have struggled to understand why there are so many job openings.
I have heard people want more from their job, more pay, benefits, better treatment, more flexibility, etc.
Following are three top reasons according to money.Yahoo.com Other reasons include not wanting to work in the office and wanting to work only in a gig economy.
Not necessaryâť“Retiring earlyâť“Being a full-time parentâť“
It seems that way too many Americans just don’t want to work, at least in the context of those of us long retired after working 40-50 years.
It’s not like we never had to endure insults, unfair pay, emotional abuse, discrimination, nepotism, vindictive bosses and much more.
We may have been required to work OT or weekends or shifts we didn’t like, but we had jobs to do and families to support which was the top priority.
Is it different today? Is it all about self? Do I really need to give my opinion?
I worked every day of my life from age fourteen, I even had a part-time job while in the army. Am I the suckerâť“
Why aren’t high school seniors and college kids clamoring for restaurant and other jobs this summer?
Workers may not feel it’s necessary to take any job for any wage. With plenty of job openings, workers have decided to spend their time as an unemployed worker looking for a job that better fits their salary and benefit needs.
The pandemic hastened the departure of the aging baby-boom generation from the workforce, and they may not be coming back. Roughly 2.5 million Americans over the age of 55 retired, including more than one million early retirements, leaving a hole in the labor force.
Finding someone to care for your child while you’re working continues to be a struggle for working parents. The U.S. Census Bureau found that in the months after the first shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, 19.6% of adults said they weren’t working due to childcare issues, and that issue continues to be a factor.
Demand for childcare has increased due to a decline in childcare workers, making it harder for parents to find openings for their kids at daycares and preschools. Costs have also risen, which means more parents are having to decide between staying in the workforce or quitting their jobs to become full-time stay-at-home parents.
Source: 9 Reasons Why Job Openings Aren’t Getting Filled
As more and more Americans express their dislike of working except on their terms business will find a way to cope, to do without, to automate, to embrace all sorts of technology.
Where have all the tellers goneâť“How many cashiers have been replaced by self checkoutâť“How much ordering in fast food restaurants and supermarkets has been automatedâť“
People who make and serve cups of coffee need a union? I’d love to negotiate that contract.
When I graduated high school I was desperate for any job, I would take whatever was offered and I did – the lowest paying job in a company of 15,000.
What a sucker I must have been
And isn’t it sad – my opinion – that our society and workforce runs on someone else taking care of our children because Mom must work? There are many reasons why Mom must work and too many are not out of necessity.
Those who complain about the workplace or the business they work for don’t understand there is no such thing as a business or corporation with feelings, thought or empathy.
All decisions are made by people. Bosses are people just like everyone else. Their actions and attitudes reflect those of our society both in and outside the workplace.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
My first job was at Curtis publishing company as a billing clerk with all females making $50.00 a week when I got to $90.00 a week. I thought it was great. I was there 4 years everyone got laid off they moved to New York. I was in the advertising department and once a month I set up the advertisements for my boss. They kept me because I could do the billing and take shorthand. The manager and one other male was left. I told them I was going to look for another job I did not want to be laid off in the winter time.
They said I would not be. In the meantime my old boss contacted me to see if I wanted to work for him at the stock market but i said no I will wait, I wanted to work in New Jersey. Got laid off the end of July. Got hired at PSE&G at $120.00 a week on August 4 making more than my dad.
Kids and people now want higher wages because they feel they deserve it or the government will take care of them. We are in a sad country now.
My parents had three girls in a small bedroom. When I worked at Curtis I saved enough to purchase a MGB, got engaged. My father said save the money use my new car to go to work and he had an old car my father use to drop my mother off to work on his way to work.
Kids now a days are fortunate. Even my daughter I tell her how I grew up. She has works hard at her job enough though she only teaches twice a week constantly writing articles on Business and wrote one book. She was a lawyer for a large law firm doing mergers because she worked all the time she left and decided to teach law.
I think she puts in just as much time at work working at home even in the summers when she has off. Between writing , speaking at conferences about her papers she has written, committees( she is head of hiring the professors). Would be making a hell amount of money if she had stayed in New York but wanted a life. When she first said she was going to teach it was on a fellowship program and I said you are not going to be able to afford the designers clothes, etc. her response I do not need them.
She is happier teaching.
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I left the workforce in 2006 at the age of 50. It was the best thing that I ever did, it allowed me the time to do many things and lowered my stress level for sure. I do not believe that America has lost its work ethic. My 44 year old son just moved from Pittsburgh, PA to Everett, WA for a new job as a Hospital equipment repair tech. This was after earning a mechanical engineering degree and a 18 month job search. The self move cost him $6,000 in July 2022. My 42 year old daughter sells clothes on line and made $40,000 in 2021. My 36 year old son just hit 10 years with the same company, He has over $200,000 in his 401K, Purchased a brand new home in 2015 and just purchased a lot for $25,000 cash, with plans to build a new home in 5 years. I have family and friends in MT, CA, TX, VA, WA, NC and FL, all still in the workforce and thriving. Don’t believe the crap surveys or new headlines pushing an agenda. AMERICA is still the greatest country in the world, why else would so many cross our southern boarder every day. COVID has screwed a lot of things up, and it may take years before we see much improvement.
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I’m a manager for a large educational institution. Perhaps my situation is more unique than small businesses and retail, but I work with young and middle age and older educated people and also tradesmen. My working style is to treat people fairly and respectfully and set working standards. I am rarely disappointed.
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Yahoo is a biased, worthless site as far as news goes. I wouldn’t waste my time with anything they suggest.
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Just not sure which side of this discussion I belong on.
During the start of my working career (1969 – 1985), I was not in a management or leadership role. I respected most of my supervisors and managers, but there were a couple who seemed overwhelmed by their assigned responsibilities. I always had a goal of making my supervisor a success.
From 1985 – 2010, I was in a management or leadership position. Perhaps I was ignorant, but, I expected each individuals who was on my team to be self-motivated and committed to success. Annually, we would compile a report on our individual and team performance. And, for most of that 25 year period, I didn’t lose a hire who joined my team – not until 2005 when three individuals left. I felt bad because I think two of the three felt that I was a barrier to their advancement (as I was in the same job for the same firm for 25 years). However, two of the three inquired about returning soon after leaving.
Since 2010, it has been a jumble of different positions, where only one on my positions was a leadership role (2017 – 2019). And, throughout the last 12 years, in my search for desired employment, I was frequently reminded that the hiring folks had little interest in my desires, aspirations, etc. or my ability to help the organization achieve a competitive advantage.
So, yes, worker expectations have changed. Workers now tend to look out for themselves – in part because no one else does. And, yes, employer expectations have changed. Employers look for those capable of doing the specific job, regardless of their ability to excell, grow, and create a competitive advantage.
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You have a good observation there. It seems that may be in the late 1990s when pensions went away, and 401K pension plans became popular for business reason, it was often pointed out that employees did not stay in a job long enough to be vested. Employers were saying that employees were their most valuable asset and then proving it by telling them to take the 401K contribution plans because you won’t stay here anyway or lay them off.
Around that same time, employee on-the-job training was being reduced. Employers would advertise entry level jobs that required 5 year of experience, which you couldn’t get without being hired into an entry level job.
In my case, I worked to learn as much as I can and hoped for advancement. I switched career fields several times and landed at a large employer where I could stay at the same company but change jobs three times over 35 years. I knew that the company didn’t care about me and that I was replaceable. Once I had a family it became more about them instead of me. I had to protect my income and benefits to pay the bills. I was one of the few that still had a pension so I put up with a lot of BS to protect that pension. I took early retirement because I was in a good place. Every time I been offered a job, none have been to my liking and would not give me satisfaction to make it worth coming out of retirement. So, my attitude has changed over time too.
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I certainly wouldn’t put all the blame for what’s happening now on kids seeking a first job or summer job. I’ve seen a lot of eager young workers this year and that gives hope that not all is lost. Immigration has not slowed in the part of the country I’m in so I don’t blame the workforce problems on immigration. The idea that we can absorb millions of unskilled or low skilled people is something we need to hold politicians accountable for.
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I have two teenage kids in the house (16 and 19). They have applied for numerous jobs, particularly at places that have “Help Wanted” signs in the window. Just TRY to get them to call you back, give you an interview, or (gasp!) actually hire you.
I think a large part of the problem is that human resource offices are so “messed” up that it’s broken the hiring process.
There are multiple reasons for the lack of help in businesses. Don’t put all of it on the kids.
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Finding put all the real reasons would be interesting. I talked to a restaurant owner yesterday and she said they are closed two days a week because of no help – they sell hot dogs. Where are all the high school seniors and younger college kids? This is in a resort area too.
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My son has experienced the same thing. He’s put his applications into various jobs like CVS, Walgreens to become a pharmacy tech. None have ever even called him back. He gets the computer generated email that says “we received your application” and then, nothing. He really doesn’t care too much about salary, but he would like to be full-time and have benefits. He has a master’s degree. Even retail places that advertise full-time and/or part-time really only want to hire part-time so they don’t have to pay benefits. Colleges, too, advertise for adjunct positions (non-benefitted positions). We saw one college advertising for 5 adjunct positions in his field where he could have taught them all, but they only wanted adjunct.
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Very interesting. What is going on?
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I think that pandemic sped up the march to socialism that has been building fast since the Great Recession. During the pandemic people were told that their work was non-essential and the government paid them to stay home. You have politicans telling people that they are not being treated fairly and the government will take care of them if you vote for me. The world is changing and I hope I don’t live long enough to see a repeat of the first half of the 1900s.
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One thing you didn’t mention , besides retirement of the baby boom generation, is that immigration has fallen significantly in the past few years.
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The world is different now, not better, just different. There is no work ethic as there used to be. It’s a different ethic, one that includes I’ll work here as long as you don’t offend me (and I will define an offense only after it happens), pay as much as I think I’m worth and don’t ask me to work Saturday or late on any night.
I wouldn’t be a supervisor now for triple what I got as a supervisor back in the day.
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