Re:Employee shortages: Where have all the workers gone?
by rapind on Saturday July 31, 2021 @09:13AM
(#28017823)
Not really. You'd have to add some very contrived constraints, like:
1) There's no one currently employed elsewhere that can make widgets who you could poach for enough money.
2) Widget making is so specialized and / or time is so short that you can't train up another worker to fill the role.
If #1 and #2 aren't possible because your margin can't cover it, then you have a failed business, not a labour shortage.
So basically "labour shortage" in a market economy is a myth, usually circulated to suppress wages. Anyone who says "labour shortage" really means "not enough cheap labour".
1) There's no one currently employed elsewhere that can make widgets who you could poach for enough money.
2) Widget making is so specialized and / or time is so short that you can't train up another worker to fill the role.
If #1 and #2 aren't possible because your margin can't cover it, then you have a failed business, not a labour shortage.
So basically "labour shortage" in a market economy is a myth, usually circulated to suppress wages. Anyone who says "labour shortage" really means "not enough cheap labour".