A classic solution to so-called worker shortages: offer higher pay. That would probably convince workers to invest in acquiring coveted skills and enter the manufacturing workforce.
Which is one reason why Oren Cass, the chief economist and founder of American Compass, a conservative think tank, says he’s skeptical whenever employers complain about worker shortages.
" I have less than zero sympathy for employers who go around complaining about labor shortages and skills gaps," Cass says. He joked that he has a side hustle, running an “incredibly innovative” biotech firm. “It employs leading scientists at $10 an hour to develop extraordinary cures. I have 500,000 job openings as well, and I have not been able to fill one of them.”
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I used to be an engineer in a manufacturing plant in South Carolina. At the time, South Carolina was booming. People were moving in from all over the country due to lower housing costs. However, the plant I worked at had a labor shortage at the same time that they had huge demand. We had something like 7 new production lines in various stages of installation all at once. The issue was so acute that we were constantly running overtime and still would have to expedite orders to prevent shutting down the customer. We cancelled the twice-a-year shutdown week several times in a row, deferring needed maintenance. A facility had recently broken ground next door with plans to hire 4000 employees in a couple years.
What did my employer pay the much-needed line operators? $15/hr. For $15 you can work 6 or 7 days per week or you could work at Chick-fil-A. The company was breaking it’s back in order to avoid paying people more. Rather than lowering the workload in any smart way, they just squeezed the people they had harder. I quit for that reason.