I wish that were happening in Portland. I could use some of Ms. Cuffie's luck!
EAST COAST VS WEST COAST: Back in NYC I'd have hr people tell me they'd stopped interviewing new applicants immediately after meeting me, even while waiting for my (paid!) test project. I'd have a gallery show me a stack of the other 400 or so resumes that'd turned up after their ad. Here? I applied for a Craig's List "podunkertunity", as I call them, doing a night time painting class. The two other candidates both reeked of cigarette smoke & one of them had a lazy eye. I didn't get an offer.
1
"He noted that the public sector has been cautious in hiring for years as mandatory spending on health care and pensions sucks up their budgets."
Key word "mandatory." Pensions have broken the back of many organizations, public and private. Their time has passed, yet taxpayers continue to fund them without input. My small company provides a simple 401k, works well enough if you take the time to research the available funds.
3
State government has traditionally paid lower wages than the private sector, as noted here. The benefit to taking those jobs was always pensions and benefits. Now you want to take those away?
2
The real story here is that an otherwise destitute 62 year-old woman, wholly dependent on her relatives, is going to use seasonal short-term income to pay church tithes.
10
Pay more and you find workers. It's actually that simple.
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@Two in Memphis
actually not if the hourly rate is increased employees work less hours because they are making more.
min wage 7.25@ 40 hours = 290
wage $10@40 hours = 400 so why work 40 hours when I can make $290 working 29 hours. It is that simple.
maybe the people screaming that the immigrants stole their jobs can apply for these
9
Governments can no longer afford to hire professionals due to low wages and cut backs in benefits. Look at government IT professional listings. Begin pay for developers at 20 to 25 dollars an hour. They can’t fill these, so then have to post as contractors for 60 to 100 dollars an hour. Taxpayers save nothing by hiring contractors. Raise the pay structure of state employee professionals.
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@Ray - Republicans since the sainted Ronnie Reagan have been busily engaged in helping Americans to cut their own throats by denigrating government employees and working to make sure those lazy, good-for-nothings don't get paid too much. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.
5
It is all great news but as soon as things got a little slow, the older workers, the trained on the job workers, etc. will be quickly disposed of
5
Shortage of qualified applicants? Now business will have to cut into their profits from Trump’s tax law of 2017 and share the wealth!
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@DENOTE REDMOND - Well, part of the problem is that business already pays better than state and local governments (and than the federal government in many cases). How will business paying yet more help fill jobs in the public sector?
Worth repeating:
Also the reason why there is a teacher shortage: we dont value the education of our children by paying so little to their teachers.
Signed: A County employee who has gone through the conservative knee jerk reaction to the 2009 Wall St fiasco by suffering layoffs and right wing talking points about "unsustainable" good pensions and decent pay by a R administration elected at the wrong time.
Now the County govt cannot hire qualified workers due to not increasing pay enough in this so-called tight job market.
13
As a rare political middle of the road reader, business is absolutely essential to any successful society. The role of government is tremendously overrated in the intelligentsia. The things you like and the living standards you enjoy were largely provided to you by the businesses that serve you. With lower tax and less kafka-esque and absurd over-regulation, they could serve you and all citizens with more product for less money.
With that said, the narrative that there is a “worker shortage” is complete, bootlicking, nonsense propaganda from big business. There are plenty of qualified workers in the US in all fields. They are still waiting for wages to rise since 1978. Increased pay will lure them to any specific job, rebalancing the returns to capital versus labor. This rebalancing is not a bug; it is a feature. I wish this false worker shortage narrative would stop. Even I do not have such an insatiable thirst for capitalist boot leather. Many journalists seem to be incorrigible.
14
@rjs7777 - I'm a non-rare middle-of-the-road reader and your first paragraph makes no sense. The role of government is to provide a lot of services that are better delivered without the profit motive interfering. And also to regulate those absolutely-essential businesses.
Otherwise, we've seen over and over again that some (not all) businesses prove themselves completely unable to self-regulate.
Paragraph two? I agree on reduced pay, but again have no clue why you don't understand that tight labor markets have fewer applicants than looser labor markets. I guess you are ignoring the reality behind those government statistics.
5
@b fagan it’s simple; I have worked in the private and public sectors. Public sector work has no goal and is generally run for the benefit of workers. Private sector work is about serving customers and, crucially, cutting costs. Cutting costs is part of basic management of any large organization. Public sector shows no ability. Costs constantly rise. It’s a broken system.
Tight labor markets mean that pay is too low to attract new workers to the area, attract 18 year olds to target their cater to it, or attract candidates who currently work in the field. Yes - I deny that the US has a worker shortage, defined as trying to hiring at absurd, non-US wage levels. It is not legitimate hiring behavior. A job that cannot attract US nationals due to its low wage is not an “open job” at all. For example, I could say there is a supermodel shortage at my home and a Ferrari shortage in my garage.
1
After graduating peak recession I had to give up on my degree and take whatever jobs I could get. I've built a career working alongside government workers. I've worked for contractors, cooperators, and county governments. I'd love a secure job with a state government, but they rarely pay enough and refuse to weigh professional experience as equal to a college degree (which I have, in the wrong field).
9
For years, many have called public employees lazy, overpaid, and useless. We have been told that our pensions are unfair and overly burdensome. In the past 10-15 years we have lived through layoffs and furloughs, gone years without a pay increase or cost of living adjustment. Is it a small wonder that those jobs are empty.
31
@jfdenver
Agreed. Also the reason why there is a teacher shortage: we dont value the education of our children by paying so little to their teachers.
Signed: A County employee!
13
@jfdenver
I went from a 28.00, 21 year state employee career in IT to 110. to 140. an hour contractor doing state projects at the exact same job. I work shoulder to shoulder with very hard working dedicated state employees. These employees are either just out of college or close to retirement. Government can’t compete to keep anyone else as the pay is so low.
13