Thanks to everyone who sent responses to the question posed in my last newsletter about why the U.S. labor shortage may be uniquely worse than other parts of the world. The comments were very thoughtful and I appreciated hearing your perspectives. Here are some of the best ideas and comments I received: - The U.S. puts too much emphasis on four-year college degrees as the gold standard. This creates a negative aura around careers in manual labor. There’s a false perception that brick masons and electricians — jobs that require a significant amount of technical skill and are usually well-paid — are somehow inferior to people who push papers around a desk simply because the latter group spent more time in a classroom. In a social-media obsessed world, these image problems may matter more than they used to. Other countries do a better job promoting vocational training.
- Unions traditionally played a major role in establishing and organizing apprenticeship programs that provided a reliable pipeline of U.S. workers to manufacturing companies. The decline of unions in the U.S. weakened that infrastructure and companies haven’t done enough to replace it.
- Not all Covid stimulus is the same. While U.S. airlines got special payroll protection dispensation, manufacturers were free to lay off workers as they pleased during the pandemic and many of them did so in abundance. Enhanced unemployment insurance helped cushion the financial blow but the nature of the aid also meant there was nothing tying workers to their former position. It doesn’t take much of a mental leap to think that workers cast aside during the crisis weren’t eager to return to the same company, or even the same industry. In contrast, other countries crafted pandemic assistance in a way that kept workers connected to their employer and in a position to be called back as the economy rebounded.
- Younger workers want more flexibility. A 9-to-5 job on a manufacturing line can’t compete with the explosion of money-making opportunities in the gig economy and through social media. These may not be the most stable or well-paying jobs, but they allow people to set their own hours, and that may mean more to the younger generation.
- Marijuana use may be keeping otherwise eligible workers from joining the manufacturing labor force. As more states legalize pot, removing this from drug screenings could help in the hiring process. Amazon.com Inc. is reportedly betting on this as a way to ease the current shortage of delivery drivers. The e-commerce giant found that screening for marijuana use reduces the prospective worker pool by up to 30%, whereas dropping this from the application process (and advertising the change) can boost the number of interested candidates by as much as 400%, according to correspondence reviewed by Bloomberg News.
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