Labour Shortage
A Labour Shortage is an economic shortage of a labor population.
- AKA: Labor Excess Demand.
- Counter-Example(s):
- See: Economic Surplus, Supply (Economics), Excess Supply.
- See: Birth Dearth, Developed Country, Economics, Demand, Employment, Economist, Labour Force, Aging in The American Workforce, Salary, Cost of Living, Occupational Stress#Causes of occupational stress, Workload.
References
2023
- https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/15/there-is-no-us-labor-shortage-thats-a-myth
- QUOTE: ... The reason people aren’t working is that work doesn’t pay them enough, given declining real wages and the increasing costs of what they depend on.
Both the Fed’s solution – slow the economy so employers can find the workers they need without raising wages and the Republican corporate solution – slash safety nets so people are so desperate they must take any job available – are cruel. They would impose huge burdens on many of the most vulnerable people in our society.
If we want more people to take jobs and we wish to live in a decent society, the answer is to pay people more. . ...
- QUOTE: ... The reason people aren’t working is that work doesn’t pay them enough, given declining real wages and the increasing costs of what they depend on.
2023
- chat
- Q: What are some ways to avoid labor shortages and labor surpluses?
- A:
- Flexible workforce: Employers can use temporary, part-time, and contract workers to respond to changes in demand for their products or services.
- Automation and technology: Investing in automation and technology can help to reduce the need for labor and increase productivity.
- Employee retention: Providing good working conditions, benefits, and opportunities for advancement can help to retain employees and reduce turnover.
- Training and education: Investing in employee training and education can help to increase the skills and productivity of the workforce.
- Immigration: Allowing for immigration can help to address labor shortages in certain industries.
- Government policies: Government policies such as unemployment insurance, training programs, and tax incentives can also help to address labor shortages and surpluses.
- Job sharing and telecommuting: Encourage job sharing and telecommuting can help to reduce labor surplus and increase labor force participation.
- Recruitment: Recruiting from underrepresented groups, such as people with disabilities, veterans, or minority groups can help to address labor shortages and diversify the workforce.
2023
- chat
- Q: In detail, what is a labour shortage, and provide some examples?
- A: A labor shortage occurs when there are not enough workers to fill the available jobs in an economy. This can happen for a variety of reasons, including an aging population, a lack of skilled workers, and a mismatch between the skills that workers have and the skills that employers need.
Examples of labor shortages include:
- In the United States, there is currently a shortage of truck drivers due to the high demand for goods transportation and the difficulty of the job
- In Japan, there is a shortage of construction workers due to the increased demand for housing and infrastructure projects
- In Canada, there is a shortage of skilled workers in the technology sector, due to the rapid growth of the industry and the lack of enough workers to fill the available positions
- In Australia, there is a shortage of healthcare workers, particularly nurses and doctors, due to an aging population and an increasing demand for healthcare services.
2023
- (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shortage#Labour_shortage Retrieved:2023-1-16.
- In its narrowest definition, a labour shortage is an economic condition in which employers believe there are insufficient qualified candidates (employees) to fill the marketplace demands for employment at a wage that is mostly employer-determined. Such a condition is sometimes referred to by economists as "an insufficiency in the labour force." An ageing population and a contracting workforce and a birth dearth may curb U.S. economic expansion for several decades, for example. [1] In a wider definition, a widespread domestic labour shortage is caused by excessively low salaries (relative to the domestic cost of living) and adverse working conditions (excessive workload and working hours) in low-wage industries (hospitality and leisure, education, health care, rail transportation, aviation, retail, manufacturing, food, elderly care), which collectively lead to occupational burnout and attrition of existing workers, insufficent incentives to attract the inflow supply of domestic workers (through a voluntary exchange), short-staffing at workplaces and further exacerbation (positive feedback) of staff shortages.[2] Labour shortages occur broadly across multiple industries within a rapidly expanding economy, whilst labour shortages often occur within specific industries (which generally offer low salaries) even during economic periods of high unemployment. In response to domestic labour shortages, business associations such as chambers of commerce would generally lobby to governments for an increase of the inward immigration of foreign workers from countries which are less developed and have lower salaries. In addition, business associations have campaigned for greater state provision of child care, which would enable more women to re-enter the labour workforce. However, as labour shortages in the relevant low-wage industries are often widespread globally throughout many countries in the world, immigration would only partially address the chronic labour shortages in the relevant low-wage industries in developed countries (whilst simultaneously discouraging local labour from entering the relevant industries) and in turn cause greater labour shortages in developing countries.
- ↑ Shrinking labour force may curb U.S. expansion for two decades
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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2008
- (Strack et al., 2008) ⇒ Rainer Strack, Jens Baier, and Anders Fahlander. (2008). “Managing Demographic Risk.” In: Harvard Business Review, 86(2).
- QUOTE: ... In their zeal to become lean, organizations continue to have round after round of layoffs — without realizing that in just a few years they may confront severe labor shortages or, if they’ve shed mostly younger workers, be left with a relatively old workforce. In some cases, a company’s ability to conduct business may even be hindered: When people begin retiring in droves, there may be no one left who knows how to operate crucial equipment or manage important customer relationships.
We offer here a systematic approach to analyzing future workforce supply and demand under different growth scenarios and on a job-by-job basis. It enables companies to determine how many employees they are likely to need, which qualifications they should have, and when they will need them. With that information, they can set up a tailored retention, recruitment, and talent management strategy for the job functions at greatest risk of a labor shortage. Such an initiative must be launched long before things reach a crisis stage, because the remedies may need years to take effect. Companies that act early not only will minimize the risk but also will gain an important advantage over their rivals. ...
- QUOTE: ... In their zeal to become lean, organizations continue to have round after round of layoffs — without realizing that in just a few years they may confront severe labor shortages or, if they’ve shed mostly younger workers, be left with a relatively old workforce. In some cases, a company’s ability to conduct business may even be hindered: When people begin retiring in droves, there may be no one left who knows how to operate crucial equipment or manage important customer relationships.