Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Worker Shortage?

Maggie’s Farm

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
No, I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
Well, I wake up in the morning, fold my hands and pray for rain
I got a head full of ideas that are drivin' me insane
It's a shame, the way she makes me scrub the floor
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more

The problem with a shortage of workers may NOT be the unemployment “benefits.”

Many Republican led states are terminating pandemic related unemployment benefits because of a concern by employers that people are unwilling to work because those unemployment benefits are so "great".  That pre-supposes that wages are the only reason that there is a difficulty in finding workers.  It couldn’t be job safety, health benefits, working conditions, nature of the work, etc.😉  If the only reason that people work is because of what you pay them, then perhaps those employers are correct. However there might be another reason that they don’t want to work on your farm no more.  Just because you want someone to work for you without benefits and at low wages, doesn’t mean that you can expect to fill that job.  The old saying that “If wishes were horse, then beggars would ride’ applies to those employers who are acting like beggars.

Minimum wage, maximum hours, child labor, safety laws, etc. exist for a reason.  It is not only to protect your workers, but also to protect you as an employer from competitors who may be willing to provide less than a fair wage, etc. to their own workers.   A floor exists to keep everyone out of the basement. Otherwise the most successful employers will be the ones that are willing to race to the bottom and don't mind living in the basement. Bob Dylan, the Nobel Prize laureate, might be onto something.   It isn't the pay for working on Maggie's Farm, it is a lot more than that.

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