My customer owns a metal factory and complained about this: the unemployment boost made it impossible for him to fill low level positions as most would make more to stay home.

I think that explanation is more of a political talking point than reality. I guess if you make people desperate enough, then they will start looking for new jobs. But I think he's grossly underestimating what's going on with society.

Most people on unemployment are laid off. They are not applying for new jobs because they assume that they will have a job to go back to shortly.

These people are also dealing with the clusterfuck surrounding schooling & childcare. From what I've seen, it's close to impossible to get your younger child back into childcare. The older ones taking remote classes in school require a good deal of adult attention.

I don't think a lot of people would change jobs even for a big raise because things are so hectic right now. Even people here on HN are struggling to balance their lives, and these are people who earn good wages and have a lot of flexibility with their schedule.

You are taking a risk coming off unemployment in a pandemic. If you get laid off again, good luck getting back on unemployment. If people aren't taking the job, that means the pay is lower than the perceived risk to the worker, and should be raised.

During a pandemic, that’s the point! You don’t want desperate people staying in the workforce and spreading the virus which kills more people. Having people stay home is what was supposed to happen!

So, pay more?

Not bizarre at all if you think about it. The economic hardship will motivate a substantial portion of our population to become more industrious. They'll fill any available job and do it productively since they're now at or below the poverty line.

The stock market is setting new highs in anticipation of a renaissance in worker efficiency and business margins.

Can we stop perpetuating this idea that poverty is going to make people work super hard to escape? It’s a debilitating state that traps people. It’s not a blessing of motivation. Studies have show poverty lowers IQ and overall health in almost every way. Happy, financially secure workers are productive ones. Hard to focus on your job when you’re wondering where your next meal is coming from and which bills you can push off until your next paycheck.

I question and reject the conclusion of any such study based on my own experience.

Your thesis has an implication that is readily checked:

If living poverty makes people more industrious, then people who grew up in poverty should have better outcomes than people who never have.

And that's pretty well proven to by false. In fact, there's a name for all of the negative effects of living in poverty that perpetuate a life in poverty: the cycle of poverty.

You’re rejecting the conclusion of studies that you haven’t even read?

Anecdote > data?

Personal observations and reasoning > crooked, conclusion-oriented "studies"

Actually reading a study, researching who conducted and funding it, and their methods > calling a study crooked because it disagrees with your world views

Your own words betray you. You've got your conclusions already. I bet you ascribe your lucky breaks to personal qualities too.