“No One Wants to Work Anymore”

How is it possible that, with American unemployment rates so low, there seems to be such an appalling lack of staff in key trades–in everything from retail to healthcare?

So often we hear, “No one wants to work anymore,” but does that really make sense?  People would rather live in their parents’ basements?  Hitchhike?  Scrounge for food in dumpsters?  Live under freeway overpasses?

As suggested at left, it’s more likely that “Few people want to work anymore under truly oppressive conditions.”

Perhaps the truth is that life in the corporate world, unless you’re the CEO, has gone from merely stressful to truly hellish–within just the past few decades.  From 1978 to 2022, CEO compensation shot up 1,209.2% compared with a 15.3% increase in a typical worker’s compensation. In 2022, CEOs were paid 344 times as much as a typical worker in contrast to 1965 when they were paid 21 times as much as a typical worker.

It’s hard to rejoice for young people in the workforce in these conditions, and especially for young parents, whose kids will grow up under financial duress that’s hard to imagine.