Why are places having a hard time finding employees to return

[Texacon]

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215374260

BigmanPigman (41,591 posts)


Why are places having a hard time finding employees to return

 
Last edited Mon Apr 26, 2021, 04:05 AM - Edit history (1)

to work once they are given the green light to open? Is it that many people have been able to work from home and prefer it? Are people getting help from the govt still and they are making more than they were when they were employed before the pandemic? Are people afraid to return and possibly get infected?

I keep hearing and reading that employers, especially in the restaurant industry, are having a hard time getting employees to fill the same jobs that are open again.

ScubaSteve (70 posts)

4. Unfortunately, it's the government help they are receiving...

I’m in the convenience store industry and you’re talking about cashiers who are making $9/hr, well above the minimum wage of $7.25. However, let’s take one who is considered full time at 34 hrs/wk.

On the job they with these numbers they gross $306, minus taxes. State of Ohio is paying $250 in unemployment and the govt assistance is an additional $300 and viola, they’re knocking down $550.

But they’ll leave for any extra money coming their way. $1400 stimulus check and they quit. Tax refund comes and they quit. They figure out unemployment is easier and they can sit home and continue vegging out on the couch binge watching what-ever or playing video games is far easier than wiping down a counter, making a pot of coffee, or ringing out a customer who’s complaining about wearing a mask.

We’re closing 3rd shifts due to lack of staff. In a number of cases, we’re closing stores because we don’t have ethe staff to keep the doors open. It’s quite sad…

OneGrassRoot (21,944 posts)

5. "Well above the minimum wage..."

Surely you would concede that it's not remotely a livable wage.

While your description of them vegging out may describe some, no doubt others felt a sense of freedom from working at a job they loathe where they're often demeaned and made to feel like crap and still don't make a livable wage. I read that many in the restaurant and retail industries have taken this opportunity to get training in other jobs -- better pay, better prospects.

I have rarely seen teens in these jobs, at any shift.

Add COVID to the mix and it just isn't worth it for people who live with others to risk the exposure those workplaces inevitably come with.

MOMFUDSKI (262 posts)

9. You sound like

my crazy repub friend that they should be happy with $9/hour and show up for work. And why is the guv helping these lazy assholes anyway? And on and on. Are you sure you landed on the right BLOG?

Sherman A1 (33,698 posts)

11. You get what you pay for

And in this case $9.00 per hour ain’t gonna cut it. Target and Walmart both figured that out and raised their starting wages long ago as have other operators in the Retail Sector. You are not losing applicants to government assistance, your company is simply not being competitive in the market place. Why would anyone want to work at your company for $9.00 per hour when they can go to Walmart and get more for their labor?

Ok, so here's the story.  We pay our people quite well.  Well above $9/hour and we're in Texas.  When the federal government was giving an extra $600/week we had people who refused to come back.  I'm talking about people who were making from $15/hour - $19/hour.  Helpers.  Our welders stayed working.

What the DUmmies fail to realize is it doesn't matter WHAT you pay someone, when you offer them an extra $600/week, that is equal to $15/hour.  Our welders make more than that plus per diem.  Welders stayed and busted their asses and got no raise, helpers stayed home and made more money without having a gas bill to get to work or the pain of actually being at work.  The breakover was what they could get in UI benefits.  Some of those making $19/hour took a little hit to their pay, but had no work related expenses.  Those in the $15/hour range were making bank.  We were straight up told by these people they weren't coming back until the extra money ran out.  We found other people to do their jobs and wished them well.

So DUmmies, would you like to come defend your stance on what a living wage is?  I thought it was $15/hour and that is the bottom of what we pay our people.  And remember I'm in Texas, $15/hour here goes quite a bit further than say, NY or CA.

KC

[dutch508]

Star Member BigmanPigman (41,591 posts)
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215374260

Why are places having a hard time finding employees to return

Last edited Mon Apr 26, 2021, 04:05 AM - Edit history (1)

to work once they are given the green light to open? Is it that many people have been able to work from home and prefer it? Are people getting help from the govt still and they are making more than they were when they were employed before the pandemic? Are people afraid to return and possibly get infected?

I keep hearing and reading that employers, especially in the restaurant industry, are having a hard time getting employees to fill the same jobs that are open again.

 

The government is paying them not to work.

Claire Oh Nette (1,400 posts)

1. Restaurants low wages

My guess, based on anecdotal evidence:

Servers make $2.15 an hour. Restaurants are not at full capacity.
The tip income isn't there. Restaurants are doing OK with curbside and take out, but servers aren't benefitting.

Friend is a waitress in town in WNC. Nice place. Slow. For the early part of her shift, from 4-6, very few customers. She makes more tending bar in a week than she does waitressing in a month.

Star Member BigmanPigman (41,591 posts)

2. That's understandable.

I expect it to remain this way until we reach herd immunity and people can dine-in as usual.

 

Buckeye_Democrat (11,494 posts)

3. I saw a recent poll in Ohio, and only about 33%...

... reported that they wore a mask at their job!

I really hope that means a significant number of them are working from home or they work alone!

Star Member Luciferous (4,766 posts)

17. My husband's company is going to make mask wearing voluntary in the next couple of weeks.

Luckily he just got his second vaccine. If he could work from home, he would.

ScubaSteve (70 posts)

4. Unfortunately, it's the government help they are receiving...

I’m in the convenience store industry and you’re talking about cashiers who are making $9/hr, well above the minimum wage of $7.25. However, let’s take one who is considered full time at 34 hrs/wk.

On the job they with these numbers they gross $306, minus taxes. State of Ohio is paying $250 in unemployment and the govt assistance is an additional $300 and viola, they’re knocking down $550.

But they’ll leave for any extra money coming their way. $1400 stimulus check and they quit. Tax refund comes and they quit. They figure out unemployment is easier and they can sit home and continue vegging out on the couch binge watching what-ever or playing video games is far easier than wiping down a counter, making a pot of coffee, or ringing out a customer who’s complaining about wearing a mask.

We’re closing 3rd shifts due to lack of staff. In a number of cases, we’re closing stores because we don’t have ethe staff to keep the doors open. It’s quite sad…

Star Member OneGrassRoot (21,944 posts)

5. "Well above the minimum wage..."

Surely you would concede that it's not remotely a livable wage.

While your description of them vegging out may describe some, no doubt others felt a sense of freedom from working at a job they loathe where they're often demeaned and made to feel like crap and still don't make a livable wage. I read that many in the restaurant and retail industries have taken this opportunity to get training in other jobs -- better pay, better prospects.

I have rarely seen teens in these jobs, at any shift.

Add COVID to the mix and it just isn't worth it for people who live with others to risk the exposure those workplaces inevitably come with.

 

MOMFUDSKI (262 posts)

9. You sound like

my crazy repub friend that they should be happy with $9/hour and show up for work. And why is the guv helping these lazy assholes anyway? And on and on. Are you sure you landed on the right BLOG?

MrsCoffee (5,086 posts)

12. Pay a ****ing living wage or close the ****ing store.

Womp womp.

Star Member obamanut2012 (20,252 posts)

15. Pay your staff a damned living wage or get over it

"9/hr, well above the minimum wage..." get out of here with that.

Your post has no place on DU. None. Probably the most anti-worker post I have ever read on here.

Star Member ProfessorGAC (47,645 posts)

18. Ridiculous

Your silly scenario has them making under $23k a year. They go back to work for under $19k?
The problem is the $19k, not the $23k.
You also neglected the fact that the roughly 10% cumulative payroll taxes (SS, UEI, Medicare, WC).
So, now the wage is a max of $17k (depending on state income tax threshold), or $1,420 a month.
That's the problem, not UE payments & federal assistance.
You should delete this hyper conservative talking point list.

Claire Oh Nette (1,400 posts)

28. 34 hour week, so even less.

The employer is a cheap bastard who has zero regard for his employees. He doesn't even give them the full 40 hours. He pays them a handful of peanuts and some cashews he scraped out from under his sofa cushions, and wonders why they don't show any loyalty.

Um, they're working their second jobs, which pay better, not vegging on the couch, playing video games.

There's enough mark up on all the crap you sell to give them all a living wage.

JonAndKatePlusABird (121 posts)

24. Yeah, no

First, I was making around $9.75/hr when I worked at a Best Buy in high school……. almost 20 years ago.

Second, this line stuck out:

binge watching what-ever or playing video games is far easier than wiping down a counter, making a pot of coffee, or ringing out a customer who’s complaining about wearing a mask

Yes, those oh-so-virtuous customers, no wonder people aren’t lining up to go back to serving them…

RandiFan1290 (5,847 posts)

7. I've only heard right wingers claiming this.

While they whine about the improving economy.

Star Member FakeNoose (17,935 posts)

25. In my opinion places that are open to the public

... such as retail stores, restaurants, bars, etc. should REQUIRE their employees to be vaccinated (as well as wearing masks) and perhaps even provide paid time off to get the vaccine.

I believe there will be liability for retail owners - in the near future - in that they'll be sued by customers who get infected in their place of business. I'm sure it's going to come to that, maybe even this year. How can a person prove they were infected in one store and not another? Well I don't know, but the store owners will need to cover their liability for insurance purposes.

Lawyers are hungry and looking for a payday, that's all I can say.

 

Star Member GoodRaisin (5,598 posts)

27. It is all the above.

People are going to take the best options available to them. Shitty paying employers are seeing the fallout from their shitty pay. Pay a fair wage, or close.

Working from home should catch on now that corporations have had to do it for a year to stay in business. It works! It solves a lot of problems for it's workers, like commuting costs and childcare. The technology to do it is there. Employers need to embrace it for their workforces and shed some unnecessary office space.

idiots.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Here's a novel idea: Open up your damn slave states and wean people off the government teet.

Stop living in fear and get back to normal.  My state, others like Texas, Florida and many others are seeing Wuhan numbers plummet with no woke mask mandates.

I'd say grow a pair, but even the biological liberal males have been castrated and have no balls.

[USA4ME]

I’ve always got a kick over how poorly the primitives can read. Add to that their inability to comprehend what they read and hilarity always ensues.

The ScubaSteve primitive simply said “I’m in the convenience story industry.” That’s all!! It didn’t say it owned the stores or that it had any control over pay structure, yet their responses are as if it does. And it goes without saying that the primitives haven’t a clue as to what the expenses are for each convenience store.

But they’ll be the first to cry and complain when the ones near them shut down and no one is willing to buy/rent the space and reopen.

Truth is these places are having trouble rehiring because people would rather sit on their butt and collect a gov’t check, as the scuba primitive correctly pointed out. It has nothing to do with “living wage.” What the primitive failed to point out was if after this past year of easy money because of C19, if you try and pay these employees $15+/hr, they would still sit at home and collect a check. That’s the type of people they are. But tell that to the primitives and they would flip out. They’re way too stupid to grasp concepts even more simple than that.

Liberals are so childlike in their worldview.

.

[Texacon]

I’ve always got a kick over how poorly the primitives can read. Add to that their inability to comprehend what they read and hilarity always ensues.

The ScubaSteve primitive simply said “I’m in the convenience story industry.” That’s all!! It didn’t say it owned the stores or that it had any control over pay structure, yet their responses are as if it does. And it goes without saying that the primitives haven’t a clue as to what the expenses are for each convenience store.

But they’ll be the first to cry and complain when the ones near them shut down and no one is willing to buy/rent the space and reopen.

Truth is these places are having trouble rehiring because people would rather sit on their butt and collect a gov’t check, as the scuba primitive correctly pointed out. It has nothing to do with “living wage.” What the primitive failed to point out was if you pay these employees $15+/hr, they would still sit at home and collect a check. That’s the type of people they are. But tell that to the primitives and they would flip out. They’re way too stupid to grasp concepts even more simple than that.

Liberals are so childlike in their worldview.

.

That $15/hour kicker the federal government offered cost us several people.  You take that and add in the fact a lot of places wouldn't allow landlords to evict for non-payment of rent ... some of those folks made out like bandits!

KC

[DLR Pyro]

and these same retards are pushing for universal basic income (UBI).  what do they think will happen when people are paid just to wake up breathing every morning?

[Texacon]

and these same retards are pushing for universal basic income (UBI).  what do they think will happen when people are paid just to wake up breathing every morning?

I've some of them say that this would be a good thing to happen.  You would remove those vehicles off the road thereby removing those pollutants.  Also you would have people at a job where they want to be instead of have to be, and not to mention those people who would rather stay home may find an outlet in painting or music and could become happier more productive members of society.

It all reminds me of the movie Wall-E.  If I'm remembering my movies right, that's where everyone just sat in chairs while the robots did all the work and everyone lost their muscles and got fat.

KC

[Kc25]

I've some of them say that this would be a good thing to happen.  You would remove those vehicles off the road thereby removing those pollutants.  Also you would have people at a job where they want to be instead of have to be, and not to mention those people who would rather stay home may find an outlet in painting or music and could become happier more productive members of society.

It all reminds me of the movie Wall-E.  If I'm remembering my movies right, that's where everyone just sat in chairs while the robots did all the work and everyone lost their muscles and got fat.

KC

Wall-E

I liked the the malfunctioning cleaning robot that said "Foreign Contaminant" anytime it saw dirt.



Thinking about it now, I am surprised the woke crowd hasn't tried to cancell Wall-E because of that.

[enslaved1]

I've some of them say that this would be a good thing to happen.  You would remove those vehicles off the road thereby removing those pollutants.  Also you would have people at a job where they want to be instead of have to be, and not to mention those people who would rather stay home may find an outlet in painting or music and could become happier more productive members of society.

It all reminds me of the movie Wall-E.  If I'm remembering my movies right, that's where everyone just sat in chairs while the robots did all the work and everyone lost their muscles and got fat.

KC

Yup, that's the one.  I've only watched it once, but the fat people in flying chairs stuck so hard.  The computers even told them what color jumpsuit to wear (was in style that season), and they only had to push a button to change the color of their clothes.  Exactly where we are headed, either that or scrounging through the ruins to survive.  Maybe a mix of both?  The dumb and obedient live empty supplied lives while the smart and free get by on wits, willpower and whatever they can find, the robots (or commie overlords) blocking off the dumb masses while hunting down the wise ones?  I feel a story brewing....

[SVPete]

It takes a DUmmie to think that high government aid payments plus laziness leading to people refusing good jobs is a good thing.

[Wineslob]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/08/04/the-7-most-dangerous-myths-about-a-15-minimum-wage/?sh=36a8ea995ec8


Here, DUmmies. Now add "free money" and there is NO incentive to work.

[landofconfusion80]

That $15/hour kicker the federal government offered cost us several people.  You take that and add in the fact a lot of places wouldn't allow landlords to evict for non-payment of rent ... some of those folks made out like bandits!

KC

But being a landlord has been pretty great. Theyve all paid ahead on their rents

[Texacon]

But being a landlord has been pretty great. Theyve all paid ahead on their rents

We only had one renter try to pull the COVID card on rent and when we pointed him in the direction of what the order said, he realized he better pay his rent or he would be on the street.  The rest were all still working, but in our area that's prison guards and oil and gas workers.  You know, essential.

KC

[Crazy Horse]

I just don’t get how they can continue to draw UI after the employer offers them to come back. This befuddles me

[ADsOutburst]

MOMFUDSKI (262 posts)

9. You sound like

my crazy repub friend that they should be happy with $9/hour and show up for work. And why is the guv helping these lazy assholes anyway? And on and on. Are you sure you landed on the right BLOG?

Maybe your "crazy" repub friend has a point.

[Texacon]

I just don’t get how they can continue to draw UI after the employer offers them to come back. This befuddles me

Because the government said if the employee felt 'unsafe' returning to work, they didn't have to.

Not only that, but the $600/week put a lot of scammers on hyperdrive.  My company received a claim for unemployment by ME!  LOL  Our HR department called and asked me if there was something they should know and I said 'not to my knowledge.'  The claim was denied, but I found an article about what was going on and at that time it was determined scammers had taken $35B from UI in other people's names.  If those people filed they were told they were already drawing and ineligible.

I actually saw a post on DU where this had happened to one of the members daughters, but I don't think any of them had read the article I found because they were all befuddled.

KC