Itās not just an issue in the US.
Always happened in a booming economy especially in a hot industry. Every businesses want to do the same thing and hence will employ the same type of people. So the long term solution is not to train more people of the same kind (short-term solution) but try to cultivate a diversified economy.
Everything is moving to higher skill levels now. Even manufacturing requires far more skill now. Even resistant waitstaff have to use computer systems vs hand written tickets. The whole idea of having one job for 30-40 years is dead. Most people will need to re-train or increase their skills every 5-10 years.
Seem to apply to SWEs and STEM professors too.
Changes use to be slow enough for that.
I was looking at server jobs. Everyone is asking for 2 years experience and food handlers certification.
The pay? minimum wage + tips 
In a raging bull and having made tons still want to work??? Your expenditure is that high?
Live below your means!
Food handler certifications? Itās a wonder our mothers didnāt kill us all 
Honestly to serve and not prepare - thatās insane. Though standard tips are 20% these days so that may be better than it seems. But one needs lots of energy and unlimited patience to deal with the public during a rush. Need to be able to smile when treated badly.
As to marcusās post about re-training - not in academe or government work. So - thereās still that.
Yes sir. I will do better.
For my last server job, I walked in door and asked for it. I got $15 base and with tips I was near mid -20s last year. Iām sure a better server at a nicer place can get 30-40.
The pay is not bad in my opinion but itās the lack of benefits, especially health insurance, that kills you.
One of the bar tenders back at AJās in La Honda was an English major. She eventually ditched the place to work over the Hill at the Pioneer in Woodside. Julia. Cute, doe eyes, about 30. She pulled in hundreds in tips on a good Saturday night.
One Saturday the power went out in La Honda and 84 was closed right at Apple Jacks due to downed trees. She kept the place going with candles. No one wanted to go home to no power; a few couldnāt get home anyway. Road opened back up some time after midnight. She made boco bucks that night.
The outlook doesnāt match what actually does happen after minimum wage increases. They end up cutting hours so take home pay is lower.
ā¦and many businesses never start up in the first place.
Arizona, oddly, has one of the highest minimum wages in the nation. Itās unemployment rate runs a percent or so above the national average.
Isnāt Arizona experiencing labor shortages? In CA there is a major shortage of day labor. No more guys hanging at Home Depot. I have seen unskilled labor costs go from $12-$25/hr in three years. Nobody wants to do physical labor at all anymore and immigration has been shutdown.
Some areas hit especially hard during the Obama years lost of lot of good people and only the marginal ones hung on. But in general I havenāt seen signs of extreme shortage; just a healthy balance bewteen employers and employed.
There is a problem with some skilled tradesman like masons. Old folks retiring or dropping dead without enough young folks to replace them. But I think this is a national problem. Too many kids told they āneedā a college degree and then thinking some liberal arts BS BA will be a ticket to the middle class.
Thereās a huge shortage in Seattle area. Itās 75/hr for general labor and skilled is higher. The huge commercial projects are using all the labor. We had to wait months for some new electric drops to move decks and install a wall of monitors at work. The quotes were also INSANE.
Iāve seen multiple electrical, plumbing, and HVAC businesses where their sign is advertising they need apprentices. Theyāll start people at $20-25/hr during apprenticeship and train them to get licensed. You know itās bad when instead of promoting the business on the sign they are trying to hire people.
My neighbor hired two teenage kids to rake. They had never seen a rake before. One only lasted two hours before he quit with bloody hands.
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