Labor shortages in some sectors of the economy are likely to get worse as more baby boomers retire, and need health care, hospitalization and home health assistance. But without better wages and benefits, some of those jobs will continue to go unfilled. Restaurants and service-industry workplaces indeed need workers. Though work-force training opportunities exist, along with their frustrating bureaucracies, the actual jobs don’t exist, at least not in adequate numbers. They remain stuck at the bottom of the income ladder, and there are few unions to protect their interests. The math never pencils out for them, even when they hold two or three such jobs. Yet in San Antonio, those who've worked in restaurants, hotels, catering and other service jobs struggle to pay their expenses for rent, utilities, cars and fuel. The Post reported that almost 81 percent of people ages 25 to 54 are currently employed, the highest level since 2001. workers, post-pandemic, don’t want to work.Īmericans do want to work but are unwilling to do so for ridiculously low wages and without health insurance or other benefits, which is the lot of many in the hospitality sector. They’re keeping unemployment at historically low levels and destroying the myth that U.S. That 4 million increase also includes more than 2 million foreign-born workers. In some cases, workers have been “trading up from low-paying hospitality jobs.”Īmong those 4 million are more than 2 million Latino workers, 800,000 Asians and 750,000 Black workers. workforce, most of them people of color.įour million more Americans are employed now than before the pandemic, and much of the growth has been in the professional and business sectors, in transportation and warehouse jobs, and in health care. Gutierrez’s story and that of San Antonio’s low-wage history connect with a series of fascinating pieces in the Washington Post about the surge of new entrants into the U.S. More from Elaine Ayala: Can immigrants fill jobs and help reduce inflation? He wants to move to San Antonio, but employers in his field don't pay enough, at least not now. He doesn’t want to move to any of those places, because a city’s flavor and feel, its demography, culture and history, matter. “Current trends are in Dallas, Austin and Houston.” “The current job market in my profession in San Antonio is not in line with California or other Texas cities,” he said via text. But the pay and benefits just don't stack up. The Gutierrezes bought their home here in hopes he’d find a job in sales management in San Antonio comparable to the one he has in San Diego. More from Elaine Ayala: Latinas work a full extra year to earn what an average white male makes He’s 42 and has a great job in San Diego, where he’s still a renter.
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