Yes, automation has been in one form or another since the 80s. The more businesses have to pay for help, the quicker they try to find ways around it. But the people refusing to work are not hurting themselves. If you’re not willing to work a job at the pay offered, what do they care if it’s automated? They are not working that job.
They will care when the government cash ends and they look for a job that no longer exists.
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I’ve had jobs more physically demanding than agricultural work as I’m sure others here have. It may be hard to find American workers who will do it right now, but that is in no way a definitive end all be all conclusion. American workers who are capable of that kind of work are not lazy ■■■■■■■ and are mostly gainfully employed elsewhere. So who does that leave for their little studies? Lazy ■■■■■■■■ Of course they have bad results.
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I know I was looking back fondly on field work the summer I spent crushing tires at a junkyard.
There were plenty of days in the 12 or 13 years I did concrete work I’d have traded with them in a flash.
Perhaps, if employers are having trouble filling open positions, they have unrealistically high standards, especially in such areas as retail & food service.
If they’re not willing to raise their wages, they should lower their standards as far as prospective employees.
In this video, Joe is going to affirmatively answer the one and only question that should be asked of the next prospective hires:
Private employers shouldn’t have to compete with free money from the government. They can’t print it.
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Than they should lower their standards to attract those who might otherwise be enticed by that free government money.
Asking prospective employees if they have a pulse and whether they answer affirmatively or not should be the only criteria for hiring.
Umm no, hiring a bad employee can cost you more than not hiring them.
I’m feeling sarcastic at this time.
Seeing the Biden video looked like a fun addition to this thread.
Rodger, carry on. 
Government money or not, there are always going to be people that will not work a job for the money offered. Once you have too many people not willing to do a job at that price, you either have to do it yourself, automate, or offer more money to do it.
Feeling sarcastic at this time, but really, near me, HELP WANTED signs, from restaurant to an automotive shop, have been staying up at least since the COVID-19 panic started.
The pizzeria I inquired about the position as a possible second job, and they wanted an experienced chef. We live in a rural community, so it’s doubtful a chef with experience will apply there.
If they keep getting no one to fill these positions, at this rate Can you stand up or be propped up? may be the only affirmative they want.
There is a special case in rural areas. Where I have some property up in Maine, there is a housing shortage for low and mid wage workers which just exacerbates the problem. If there is no where for them to live… then there are no workers in the area.
The NYT did a piece a few weeks ago about the labor crunch out in the Hamptons. Even cutting into middle class government jobs because they cannot pay people enough to afford to live in the community.
Or hire one of those.
We have something similar to that where I work now. They’re called C-Crew. You bust that ass on that job, and it’s union.
Back around 2000 or 2001 I had to start off part time for a few years. Pay wasn’t great, around 12 an hour. Half of what I was making at Verizon. My brother in law told me he could get me into a construction site, 25 bucks an hour. I asked him, doing what? He said laborer. I said, no thanks, I’m good. I suffered for a few years. But it paid off in the end. Now had he said 50 an hour. I may have went into construction.
A few years ago, well before Covid, part of my school’s professional development included taking us on tours of local employers, including a major foreign car parts manufacturing facility, and a major steel fabrication facility. Auto parts was starting people below $10, and welding was barely starting people above $12. It wasn’t any surprise why they were both desperate for new workers who would stick around. You’re not going to attract hard workers to this type of work environment (high stress manual labor) for the pay that was being offered.
Until recently my brother went through a plethora of jobs/fields until he finally settled on trucking. For him, it was a matter of finding a balance of being paid enough to take the amount of ■■■■ the employers would dish out. He, like most people, will take a certain amount of ■■■■ for the right amount of money, and I think what we’re seeing right now is people no longer being willing to put up with the amount of ■■■■ that is regularly dished out to retail/food service/low wage jobs now.
I get really tired of hearing “entry level jobs.” A McDonald’s “burger flipper” isn’t really a burger flipper any longer-they deal with expensive tech, work stressful shifts, clean, are expected to follow safety regulations/laws, have to deal with asshats who boohoo got lettuce on their burger and didn’t want it, have to put up with managers who aren’t people persons. They’re not working any less hard than anyone else, but we demand that they be paid the lowest possible amount and that we be able to treat them like ■■■■ when we feel like.
There’s supposed to be dignity in ANY work, but expecting ANYONE, even a teenager, to put up with that for 8-9 bucks an hour is just insulting.
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How does that thing make 100s of pizza’s an hour?
There are other videos of that pizza machine. It’s a one pizza at a time assembly line. It’s not that fast. You still have to input every pizza and cut every pizza. No way you’re getting 100s out per hour with one machine. A machine that probably costs a fortune.
All that thing does is make it easier to make a pizza. I doubt it cuts down on jobs.
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You pretty much have to be connected to get the big money jobs in construction lol. It takes time. And experience too of course, but experience isn’t usually enough.
There is no labor shortage. Shut off the the govt. taps and millions will be motivated to work. This will also stem the immigration flow.
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