Antiwork movement

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s fake. Dh has been unemployed for 2 mos despite 600 + applications. If the shortage was so real I think we’d see evidence

I think there's a shortage in the service sector and some professional sectors (i.e. tech). I think there are a lot of other white collar jobs that do not have a shortage of applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a young friend that is basically in the anti-work movement. They think basically most work is propping up a racist inequitable system of capitalism. They are living in a sort of communal set up where they do a mutual food aid system with donated food, grow or make a lot of things themselves, get things from thrift or buy-nothing groups and then work gig jobs as necessary for cash. They have a college degree from a relatively elite school. It reminds me of the hippie communes but on a different scale.

That’s the thing. You still gotta work to get paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So this is why everything is short staffed nowadays?

I love how people think that this very small movement is to blame for the work shortage and yet you can't possibly understand that with daycares being closed and things being very inconsistent that some parents have had to leave the workforce or reduce their hours. If you're not getting consistent daycare and still paying for it then it makes more sense to quit your job or work part-time and not pay for daycare for short-term.

We are by no means wealthy but we have a 165k HHI and my daycare closed between Christmas and New Year's and just closed for snow that hasn't even come and continues to talk about how they might close.

At this point we're considering staggering our work schedules and withdrawing our son from care until he goes into kindergarten. The only reason I'm able to do that or even consider that as an option is because I have a very flexible tech job. But I can tell you that many people are not going to continue to pay for daycare continue to work have to use our leave take leave without pay while having to go through closure after closure after closure it's been 2 years.

Part of this is that people are getting better jobs part of this is that people can't work with young children and inconsistent child care and the other part is maybe people are retiring early. It isn't just one thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is this different from the labor movement?

A lot of it is wildcat. But there is reddit support for organized strikes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I am Asian, this type of thinking is that computer science = useful, English and music = useless. Those kids who majored in computer science end up working for faang for 12 hours a day getting PIPed every few years end up paying $$$ for houses in artists led communities, shelling out 5k for doulas, renting $$$$ in Provincetown or Montauk. So I am not so sure what is useful anymore. 🤣

I'm also Asian-American. When people talk about humanities and arts being "useless", what they really mean is that they aren't obvious paths to lucrative jobs. They conflate high incomes with value to society. I have a high income, but I understand that it doesn't reflect my value to society. Many other high income people I know, especially in finance, say the same.

But it won't stop people calling less-lucrative fields of study "useless". The implication, of course, is that lower income jobs are "useless". And then people wonder where the antiwork movement comes from.

Exactly this. Also, having a non-STEM degree certainly doesn't guarantee a lower income job by any means. My wife and I both have "useless" anthropology degrees yet we both have very decent jobs. ($200K HHI) We just had to work a little harder at building our careers than say a computer science grad who gets recruited by a tech firm straight out of college. The vast majority of my circle of friends also got "useless" liberal arts degrees and they're all doing just fine in a wide variety of career fields. The nonprofit/trade association world is built on liberal arts degrees. So is the political world, the journalism/writing/editing world, and many others.

[Anonymous]

People aren't working because they don't have to. There's simply too much easy money sloshing around. Raise rates by 300 bps, cut all the BS covid-era cash payouts, and raise the inheritance tax, and people will work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So this is why everything is short staffed nowadays?

I love how people think that this very small movement is to blame for the work shortage and yet you can't possibly understand that with daycares being closed and things being very inconsistent that some parents have had to leave the workforce or reduce their hours. If you're not getting consistent daycare and still paying for it then it makes more sense to quit your job or work part-time and not pay for daycare for short-term.

We are by no means wealthy but we have a 165k HHI and my daycare closed between Christmas and New Year's and just closed for snow that hasn't even come and continues to talk about how they might close.

At this point we're considering staggering our work schedules and withdrawing our son from care until he goes into kindergarten. The only reason I'm able to do that or even consider that as an option is because I have a very flexible tech job. But I can tell you that many people are not going to continue to pay for daycare continue to work have to use our leave take leave without pay while having to go through closure after closure after closure it's been 2 years.

Part of this is that people are getting better jobs part of this is that people can't work with young children and inconsistent child care and the other part is maybe people are retiring early. It isn't just one thing.

There is no immigration. It is the lowest it has been in years. The US population growth rate was 1% last year and it is mainly due to no immigration. The worker shortage is in the type of jobs immigrants usually fill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People aren't working because they don't have to. There's simply too much easy money sloshing around. Raise rates by 300 bps, cut all the BS covid-era cash payouts, and raise the inheritance tax, and people will work.

No. Everyone is working. Just stop with the Fox news propaganda. Unemployment is 4.2%. 4% is consider full employment. We need immigrants to keep the country rolling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This video covers it super well:

One of the reasons is that people simply have more options for other work/other means of making money than ever before. They dont have to settle for that factory or waiter job

This.

I downloaded TikTok during the pandemic to check it out before my youngest was allowed to download it to make the silly dances. I was shocked at how many side hustle into full hustle jobs were featured.

There's a lady one there making tons of $$$ mixing glitter. That's right... mixing glitter. She buys glitter in bulk in different size grades and makes special mixes, like "under the sea" and "starry night" etc.

And who buys these glitter mixes? The ladies who buy Starbucks tumblers to personalize and bling up.

It's mind blowing at just how many crafty people on there are using the platform to promote their skills, which converts to orders. There's even some teen entrepreneurs on there who have whole ass factories/production lines with employees for their slime businesses, t-shirt businesses, etc.

Young people have learned that if you don't want to work for someone else, you can just make use of a skill/talent you have and work for yourself. Consumers also want to buy local, buy small instead of from big corporations.

My cousin's daughter started making bead jewelry when she was 14 because nowhere would hire her at that age. She set up an Etsy shop and did pretty well for herself because she just bought her own first car at 17 before Christmas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People aren't working because they don't have to. There's simply too much easy money sloshing around. Raise rates by 300 bps, cut all the BS covid-era cash payouts, and raise the inheritance tax, and people will work.

There's no more easy money sloshing around.

You guys said "wait until September when the covid unemployment runs out, they'll be fighting over these restaurant jobs!" Well, September came and went and there's not one restaurant in my town that I follow that doesn't have some kind of FB notice posted about altered hours because of a lack of workers.

Then it was "wait until the extra child payments end!" Annnnndddd again, where are the workers?

The workers left. They used programs offered during the pandemic to learn new skills and go back to school to better themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People aren't working because they don't have to. There's simply too much easy money sloshing around. Raise rates by 300 bps, cut all the BS covid-era cash payouts, and raise the inheritance tax, and people will work.

There's no more easy money sloshing around.

You guys said "wait until September when the covid unemployment runs out, they'll be fighting over these restaurant jobs!" Well, September came and went and there's not one restaurant in my town that I follow that doesn't have some kind of FB notice posted about altered hours because of a lack of workers.

Then it was "wait until the extra child payments end!" Annnnndddd again, where are the workers?

The workers left. They used programs offered during the pandemic to learn new skills and go back to school to better themselves.

Clueless boomers pre-pandemic: "If you want to make more than minimum wage, then get a better job!"

Workforce: Does exactly that

Clueless boomers now: "Wait, please come back! I didn't actually mean, it, I just wanted to feel superior while placing the blame on workers instead of the ingrained system of inequality. I need my McDouble!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People aren't working because they don't have to. There's simply too much easy money sloshing around. Raise rates by 300 bps, cut all the BS covid-era cash payouts, and raise the inheritance tax, and people will work.

There's no more easy money sloshing around.

You guys said "wait until September when the covid unemployment runs out, they'll be fighting over these restaurant jobs!" Well, September came and went and there's not one restaurant in my town that I follow that doesn't have some kind of FB notice posted about altered hours because of a lack of workers.

Then it was "wait until the extra child payments end!" Annnnndddd again, where are the workers?

The workers left. They used programs offered during the pandemic to learn new skills and go back to school to better themselves.

Clueless boomers pre-pandemic: "If you want to make more than minimum wage, then get a better job!"

Workforce: Does exactly that

Clueless boomers now: "Wait, please come back! I didn't actually mean, it, I just wanted to feel superior while placing the blame on workers instead of the ingrained system of inequality. I need my McDouble!"

You are amazing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People aren't working because they don't have to. There's simply too much easy money sloshing around. Raise rates by 300 bps, cut all the BS covid-era cash payouts, and raise the inheritance tax, and people will work.

There's no more easy money sloshing around.

You guys said "wait until September when the covid unemployment runs out, they'll be fighting over these restaurant jobs!" Well, September came and went and there's not one restaurant in my town that I follow that doesn't have some kind of FB notice posted about altered hours because of a lack of workers.

Then it was "wait until the extra child payments end!" Annnnndddd again, where are the workers?

The workers left. They used programs offered during the pandemic to learn new skills and go back to school to better themselves.

Some unemployed households received pandemic related benefits in excess of $100,000 and didn't have to use any of that money for rent. Given all that free money, most of them don't need to return to work right away and can be selective about the jobs they apply for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People aren't working because they don't have to. There's simply too much easy money sloshing around. Raise rates by 300 bps, cut all the BS covid-era cash payouts, and raise the inheritance tax, and people will work.

There's no more easy money sloshing around.

You guys said "wait until September when the covid unemployment runs out, they'll be fighting over these restaurant jobs!" Well, September came and went and there's not one restaurant in my town that I follow that doesn't have some kind of FB notice posted about altered hours because of a lack of workers.

Then it was "wait until the extra child payments end!" Annnnndddd again, where are the workers?

The workers left. They used programs offered during the pandemic to learn new skills and go back to school to better themselves.

Some unemployed households received pandemic related benefits in excess of $100,000 and didn't have to use any of that money for rent. Given all that free money, most of them don't need to return to work right away and can be selective about the jobs they apply for.

That’s not how it works. The eviction moratoriums did not stop back rent from accruing. The landlords couldn’t evict but could still sue to recover money under a contract action. Oh, and any household getting $100K in unemployment benefits would be overscale for rental assistance, so please don’t try to bring that up either.

[Anonymous]

It will last as long as their savings do or until mom and dad kick them out of the nest.