Businesses Are Shutting Down Due to Lack of Workers!!!

[LevelUP]

I heard some reports on the news about businesses starting to have trouble finding workers.

Now I see with my own eyes that restaurants are shutting down certain days the week in my city, and there a Chick-Fil-A that had to close its dining due to lack of workers.

The current unemployment rate is supposedly 5.9%.  Never before in history have I ever seen this happen!

[ss20ts]

It's been happening here for months. Restaurants are shutting down a few days a week and cutting their hours due to the lack of employees.

[rachel83az]

Maybe if they paid better and/or treated employees like people. The US is notorious for not doing that.

[LevelUP]

Maybe if they paid better and/or treated employees like people. The US is notorious for not doing that.

Some of the worst treatment I got was from customers.  Maybe customers should realize that all people are human beings and aren't just there to serve you.

They should raise the min wage though the current issue is likely more than just a wage problem.

[rachel83az]

I don't know. Places in Europe aren't having to close due to staffing issues. Some may be hiring but it looks like standard hiring. No more or less than usual.

[bjcheung77]

Hmm, they're all jumping onto the Target and Walmart deal! Free education, what do you expect right?! <gets my shoes - runs and signs up for BOTH>

[Vle045]

Maybe if they paid better and/or treated employees like people. The US is notorious for not doing that.

Some of the worst treatment I got was from customers.  Maybe customers should realize that all people are human beings and aren't just there to serve you.

They should raise the min wage though the current issue is likely more than just a wage problem.

It is definitely the customers who treat employees badly, in my experience.  I worked in retail for years while I was in High School and College.  Also worked as an assistant manager.  
I had a woman scream at me for being out of complimentary gift boxes on Christmas Eve,
a man yell at me for not having a good enough answer on the difference between sock brands,
a lady clawed my arm because she had to wait 7 days before getting a refund because she paid by check,
countless encounters with thieves,
called names from a woman who felt that she should be able to get an expensive pillow for the price of the cheap pillow,
literally watched and stalked by some guy who decided he had a crush on me….
Etc. Etc. Etc.  

 I did have a few sucky managers over the years too, but I had no problem standing up for myself with them.  
I can only imagine that customers have gotten MUCH worse in the age of the Trump cult and Covid.

[rachel83az]

I mean, if employers let employees shut down bad customers, that'd count as treating the employees like humans. But service workers are just robots with no feelings, so "the customer is always right" reigns supreme. In Europe, it's much easier for employees to stand up for themselves and to kick out misbehaving customers. Thus, that type of thing is super rare in comparison. It happens, but I don't think it happens nearly so much as with American customers. Because American customers have been conditioned to kick up a fuss and know that there will be no consequences.

[ss20ts]

Maybe if they paid better and/or treated employees like people. The US is notorious for not doing that.

There is a restaurant paying cooks $70K a year and still can't hire people. If you can't live off of $70K a year the problem isn't the salary. The problem is you. Minimum wage in my state is drastically higher than other states and there's still help wanted signs everywhere.

My husband's healthcare IT firm has been trying to hire to fill several positions. The salary is 6 figures. Zero applicants for the positions. It's not about pay.

[Vle045]

I mean, if employers let employees shut down bad customers, that'd count as treating the employees like humans. But service workers are just robots with no feelings, so "the customer is always right" reigns supreme. In Europe, it's much easier for employees to stand up for themselves and to kick out misbehaving customers. Thus, that type of thing is super rare in comparison. It happens, but I don't think it happens nearly so much as with American customers. Because American customers have been conditioned to kick up a fuss and know that there will be no consequences.

The best I could do with difficult customers is say things like, “I can’t help you when you are swearing at me….”    The same goes outside of retail.  Working in an inner city school, I had parents in my face yelling at me all the time for things that were 100% outside of my control.  One parent threw a crumpled up form in my face because I told her that she would have to choose between getting a bus or transportation reimbursement. The district would not allow both.  (As well they shouldn’t - it’s double dipping basically).
Another parent got mad at me because we did not keep change at the school.  (We were not allowed.  Money was very tightly controlled.). He constantly yelled at me for it.  He tried to “get back at me” for not having change by coming in and paying for something in all coins.  I told him that I had to count and roll the coins in front of him (that part was not true) so that I could take them for deposit at the bank at the end of the day.  (That part was true.  We were literally not allowed to keep any money thanks to former employees embezzling money).   I couldn’t tell him he was a cantankerous *&#!@.   So I had to be polite and get creative.

The common thread that I observed working with customers/parents/clients is a general attitude of entitlement and zero respect.  Granted, they weren’t all bad.  But the nutjobs were doozies!