Re:A labor market conundrum: Skilled and high-paying blue-co...
by Animats on Wednesday July 05, 2017 @03:30PM
(#14705441)
Construction jobs come and go with housing starts. Construction work is high-paying but intermittent.
Other problems: if you work at the only factory in town, the factory has total power over you. You can't quit and get another job. If the factory closes, the town dies. Or goes into zombie mode - no jobs, young people leave, population ages, buildings are abandoned. Too many US towns and small cities are like that. Relocating to a one-factory town is risky. You can be trapped there, especially if you buy a house. 84 Lumber HQ is in a town with 700 people.
Companies in bigger cities tend to have less trouble recruiting. The labor pool is bigger. They can raise wages if they need more workers, which tends to push wages up in urban areas.
Other problems: if you work at the only factory in town, the factory has total power over you. You can't quit and get another job. If the factory closes, the town dies. Or goes into zombie mode - no jobs, young people leave, population ages, buildings are abandoned. Too many US towns and small cities are like that. Relocating to a one-factory town is risky. You can be trapped there, especially if you buy a house. 84 Lumber HQ is in a town with 700 people.
Companies in bigger cities tend to have less trouble recruiting. The labor pool is bigger. They can raise wages if they need more workers, which tends to push wages up in urban areas.