This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse Blog.
Why are companies all over the world suddenly desperate for workers? In my entire life, I have never seen anything like this. When the labor shortage started in the United States, a lot of people blamed overly generous government handouts, but that doesn’t explain why the exact same thing is happening in nation after nation all over the globe.
There aren’t enough factory workers, there aren’t enough truck drivers, there aren’t enough port workers, there aren’t enough employees to properly staff our stores, and the shortage of doctors and nurses is becoming a major crisis in some areas. During normal times, we were always told that the global economy was not producing nearly enough jobs for everyone, but now for the very first time, we are facing an enormous worldwide labor shortage. It is almost as if millions upon millions of people suddenly disappeared from the system.
Earlier today, I was stunned to learn that a new survey has discovered that 69 percent of global companies are having a hard time finding enough people to hire…
A survey of nearly 45,000 employers across 43 countries showed 69 percent of employers reported difficulty filling roles, a 15-year high, according to employment-services provider ManpowerGroup Inc. At the same time, 15 countries — focused in Europe and North America — reported their highest hiring intentions since the survey began in 1962.
Just a few years ago, any company that was willing to pay decent wages would be absolutely flooded by job applications.
But now everyone can’t stop talking about the “shortage” of workers.
So where did all the people go?
Normally, global supply chains run as smooth as butter, but now they are in a complete and utter state of chaos.
And the biggest reason why they are in a complete and utter state of chaos is because there simply is not enough workers for them to operate as they usually would.
On a very basic level, we need people to make stuff, pack stuff, ship stuff, transport stuff, unload stuff, and sell stuff.
Every step along the way, shortages of workers are causing major headaches, and now we are being told that this supply chain crisis “will last well into next year”…
A supply chain crunch that was meant to be temporary now looks like it will last well into next year as the surging delta variant upends factory production in Asia and disrupts shipping, posing more shocks to the world economy.
Manufacturers reeling from shortages of key components and higher raw material and energy costs are being forced into bidding wars to get space on vessels, pushing freight rates to records and prompting some exporters to raise prices or simply cancel shipments altogether.
But if we had enough people to do all the jobs that needed to be done, this crisis could be resolved very rapidly.
So where are they?
As inventories get tighter and tighter, that is invariably going to drive up prices.
Earlier this week, one of my readers emailed me about the shortages and price increases that she is seeing in her local area. I asked her if I could share this with all of you, and she said that I could…
You can’t find frozen turkeys, frozen hens, frozen cornish hens…the supply chain HAS indeed been cut. There was 1…just one box of oatmeal on the shelves of our local food store that are normally stocked through the gills with food. Prices are higher…tomato sauce, in a can: what used to cost $0.99 cents last year now costs $1.50. Chicken drumsticks—we usually throw a bunch in a crockpot with some bbq sauce and put it over rice for our kids, they love it….chicken drumsticks, last year were $0.89/pound….now they are $ 1.39 per pound. We only buy meat that has been reduced….a rump roast, for instance, was marked down from $18 dollars to $7….that’s a huge price cut, so we look for deals like that. But they are hard to find!!! Everything is higher, packaged in smaller boxes and cups and there is not much of it. We all knew this was coming….it’s going to get worse, for lots of people who don’t know what’s happening. We have goats for goat milk and meat if we need, chickens for eggs and we’ve put back lots of produce we found on sale over the summer, in the freezer to booster our garden. It’s shocking how much just is not there…the shelves are empty, moved closer together, and bare spots are everywhere in grocery stores these days.
Unfortunately, what we have experienced so far is just the beginning. Global food supplies are going to continue to get tighter, and that is going to continue to drive up food prices.
Another sector of the economy where the labor shortage is having a big impact is in the healthcare industry.
Lately, I have been coming across lots of stories about people dying because they can’t get the care that they need. Just before I started writing this article, I came across a heartbreaking story about a 70-year-old woman in Canada that dropped dead after a six hour wait in a local emergency room…
Bonnie Marie Hall was with her 70-year-old mother — Susan Tasson — when she died early Wednesday in a Kamloops, B.C., hospital emergency waiting room after a six-hour wait for care.
Hall says her Ontario-born mother had an infectious laugh and a “warrior” spirit. She had three sons and two daughters, loved her grandchildren and had lived in Kamloops since 1987.
“Nobody wants to die in a waiting room. Nobody,” said Hall.
Nobody should ever have to die that way.
But it is going to keep happening because there is an acute shortage of healthcare workers right now.
All over the nation, the shortage of nurses has become a really big deal, and new mandates are just making things even worse…
Hospitals are struggling to comply with the state’s nurse staffing requirements as pandemic-induced burnout has exacerbated an already chronic nursing shortage nationwide.
But burnout isn’t the only thing compounding California’s nursing shortage: The state’s new vaccine mandate for health care workers is already causing headaches for understaffed hospitals before it is even implemented. Some traveling nurses — who are in high demand nationwide — are turning down California assignments because they don’t want to get vaccinated.
There is a serious shortage of doctors as well, and this is a phenomenon that we are witnessing all over the globe.
For example, over in the UK it is being reported that there is a “shortfall of more than 50,000 doctors” right now…
The NHS may be unable to cope this winter because of a “frightening” shortfall of more than 50,000 doctors, the head of the British Medical Association has warned.
Here in the United States, our healthcare system has never been so close to a state of collapse.
In fact, one doctor recently wrote an article in which he claimed that it has “already collapsed”…
As a resident physician who has only trained in an era of COVID—I was asked to consider graduating from school early in April 2020 to help with medical staff shortages—my time as a doctor has been defined by working in a system that has already collapsed. The American health system I work in has featured limited personal protective equipment, oxygen shortages, and the construction of field hospitals in convention centers and parking garages. Last winter, many hospitals across the country instituted crisis standards of care, forced to ration health services based on criteria that few people envisioned would be used outside of a mass casualty event, like a terrorist attack. Today, hospitals are full in much of the country, with patients requiring an ICU being airlifted thousands of miles in search of a staffed bed. These are not features of a health system that is approaching failure. These are features of a health care system that has broken down spectacularly, forcing doctors and patients to climb through the rubble looking for help.
But just like every other industry, if we had enough people to do the jobs that needed to be done, we would be fine.
In all the years that I have been writing about the economy, finding enough workers has never been a problem.
Yet here we are in the middle of 2021, and all of a sudden there are millions and millions and millions of empty jobs all over the globe.
Once again, there is a question that I must ask.
Where did all the people go?
This is a question that everyone should be asking because the people that are currently running things are not telling you the truth.
***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***
About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book, I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream, and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial, or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and anyway that you can share these articles with others is a great help. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.
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Don’t know about the rest of the world, but with so many jobs available that Americans obviously won’t do, what are all those illegals doing to support themselves?
Do we need to increase our imports of migrants beyond what they are now to rebuild our workforce?
Mandating an experimental cocktail called a vaccine that by definition doesn’t act like one with bad side effects. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out people don’t want the jab!!!!
Every store you walk in you find shortages and empty shelves. Many of these places are short of labor and some retailers are cutting hours to accomadate shortage of staff. boats are sitting off shore waiting months to be unloaded and then needing trucks to deliver. The US is short 130,000 truck drivers and delivery trucks. Now nurses and doctors are being fired for not being vaxxed. The same hospitals are looking for nonexistent replacements. There goes your healthcare! Stock up what you can this will go on through next spring.
“For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.”
— from Rev 18
Amen. So be it.
The present form of commerce and economics, the monetary system etc. and and generic forms of democracy globally, are intentionally being weakened and allowed to die off on a global basis. It’s all part of the global reset plan,and along with it billions of people are going to be exterminated,through starvation,disease and probably war on a scale no one has ever seen as of yet in the history of the world. The so called “vaccine” in a large part will contribute to the culling of the heard,if not out right killing people it will weaken and incapacitate so they will be less resistive and easier to manage,with a greatly reduced lifespan. Just look around already at the mass of the general population on a global perspective,how passive and confused so many are,how easily they can be deceived and manipulated. It is a depressing situation to say the least. I have to thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,that I know the Father and the Son and that I am saved and have eternal life in Jesus Christ. I would ask and beseech any and all to cast yourself upon God,and ask Him to save you. God is love and light,and wishes that no one would perish. The Lord Jesus is REAL,He loves you and died for your sins that you could be reconciled to God and become one of His dear children. We live in extraordinary times and we have and extraordinary God who can save us and give us life eternal.
I took the vaccine. I haven’t had any side effects and everything still functions as it would of before I was vaxxed. It is a personal choice though and never should be mandated. I question what is happeneing in our society however. It is interesting how the christians are also questioning society. I do not believe in jesus or any of that. I believe the gods before jesus ran around killing everything who didn’t follow his plan.. if you can’t remember thousands of years ago.. the christains did the same shit then that the politicans are doing now. Mandates and killings. All forms of insitutions are a form of control for those who never had an upbringing to raise themselves in the way a proper human should be raised to question everything and not give power to something they cannot see.
Yet you worshiped the false idol by accepting the vaccine and will soon come down with a case of ADE, your body will eventually attack itself. Oh ye of little faith, brought low. And you totally are picking selective historical content, and missed the entire point of the religious experience, to better ones self. By force if necessary, yes, and take notes before you get pushed around further. Warriors for Christ. Deal with it.
Wonder why companies complain that there are not enough workers? only 200k jobs were added BUT Companies FIRE 2 million people.
ASSININE!
People are told to stay home until they get vaccinated.
Politicians are doing a fine job in hollowing out civil society so far, but one day people will realize that working together is much more fundamental than fighting each other over politics
Me thinks we in the final lap. No going back. We getting trapped and gonna get zapped. No bueno for anyone. Sayanara my amigos! As ta luego!
A mundane reason might be that the latest generation is in their mother’s basement thinking they are a multi-genderd armadillo.
i only wish they had an “upvote” capability. “Multi-gendered Armadillo.” I love it.
A lot of white-grey market labour in the world was hand-to-mouth living; day labour and multiple part-time jobs.
The initial lockdowns wiped that labour pool, sending them back to their home towns, if they were lucky enough to have anywhere to return to. Anyone who came back, found many small bsinesses closed forever, or rewarded with more lockdowns.
Black market work pays a lot less, but work is steady. All those migrants, can’t be living off just government benefits.
The white market economy, especially small business, is screwed trying to compete with racketeers.
There is definitely a labor shortage, at least where I live. Companies and places of business take employees from other businesses by offering a little better wage, or some benefit like flexible hours, etc. I am frequently called by management and asked to come in for more than my scheduled hours. Even if one person takes off it imposes problems because of insufficient staffing. I see people are frequently interviewed but we can’t get ahead because when a person is hired another person may leave to go to another job. I have friends in other places of work telling me the same thing. Sometimes it seems over a few years that local competing businesses just end up trading employees. But the one important thing I notice there is no net increase in the number of employees in the general workforce. I don’t know what’s going on but I can see the effects.
Another item where I see a problem is the supply chains, there is definitely an interruption going on, and it is causing a big increase in prices, some a great deal. Also, the wait/lag time for some ordered materials, parts, equipment, and so on is much longer now than traditionally was.
And if that’s not enough, our state now wants every business to compel their employees to be vaccinated as a condition of employment, or be tested every week. I have already told my manager I will not receive the vaccine (but I believe it will just be left at that).
Yeah, we’re still here! Count down T minus 3, 2, 1
I don’t have OCD…
Think “Soylent Green” LOL
On a serious note, many people think they should be supported by the government. THAT type of thinking will kill a country quickly!
Its all BS.. Plenty of people still need jobs, & plenty of corporations not gonna hire.
They’re just priming us to accept that “automation is the only answer”.
So predictable.
Remember when they were showing footage in New York of placing dead bodies in semi trailers because there were too many dead people to process at the morgue? Yeah, that’s still happening, the news just isn’t reporting it anymore. My mother in law is a respiratory therapist and is watching it happen at her hospital in Miami. Think about it. Where are the largest shortages? Healthcare and jobs that were labeled as essential? How much of that is coming from younger folks moving up into higher paying jobs after the great resignation? How much of it is coming from ptsd and job burnout chasing away healthcare workers in droves? Has anyone tallied up the real death toll in the USA from the “virus”? What about the death toll from people who couldn’t get medical help during this “pandemic” and died? Add in the lower birth rates of the last decade and you have your answer of where did everyone go?
There has been an ongoing ICU bed shortage and shortage of hospital workers every year in the news for the past two decades.
These people got exactly what they wanted, by design. They opted others out of pensions and ss responsibilities, through policy changes which killed millions of people whom were poorly attentive to their own health and extended too much trust to the establishment and big insurance corps whom have long since hijacked the medical establishment amongst others.
Just when fake news media was failing, they got a shot in the arm and now everyone loves the establishment again, glued to the idiot box.
All that independent competition, losing ground fast. A corporate dream come true. The mechanisms of government are now turned against the innocent man. The men of today quickly developed a new moral code to glorify their misconduct. Am I the only person alive who’s read Bastiat? The Law, it’s a tiny book, and people should read more.
Chaos by design. Order out of chaos. A new world order. Did you people skip heavy metal over the past 40 years? It was, after all, predictable.
What if the people are being ‘removed’ in ways yet undiscovered? It appears people are incapable of resisting tyranny in the digital age. Ride the lightning and destroy what’s left. That or get a dang job and stop crying about everything. Living off grid sucks, it’s better to go down with the ship.
674K Sars2 Deaths for starters. Followed by more workers going to remote work. Better conditions. Higher wages and better conditions are needed to fill undesirable jobs. That or more immigration. (Honestly, think about who is complaining about not enough workers. Almost always there is an easier job paying as well.)
Who cares?? Hopefully you have a better job and are making more money. If not… consider looking around.
Not to mention that we are at the start of systematic population decline. People are having less children. Parenting is harder and more expensive.
There are plenty of people about, they are just from the third world. While some are ambitious and well educated, many are badly behaved, have a low IQ (think Somalis, Afghanis etc), and can’t function at a high level in a first world country.
Basically the labor market is heading to more and more AI and automation. They still need people to do dexterous but menial jobs (filleting fish, stacking shelves, delivering pizzas, etc) but even these will be done by robots in 20 years time.
Basically we are in the last 20 years before society bifurcates into a small elite living high and well, while the rest are either drooling morons doing toilet cleaning etc, acting as a sex toy, or are sterilised and shuffled off this mortal coil.
I call BS on this story. And here is why. In Canada throughout the 90s recession and beyond Canadian companies would bemoan how they couldn’t find enough workers. An investigation found out, however, close to 60 percent of advertised jobs weren’t even real. It came out that companies could claim all sorts of tax write-offs if they advertised jobs that didn’t exist. Another scam was to then claim they couldn’t find a Canadian to do the job, at say $45,000/year, so they needed to lower the salary and import some workers from the third world.
As for things like not enough healthcare workers, anyone can tell you how mismanaged most health systems are, and that they always go through cycles of either over supplying nurses and docs, or undersupplying them because of quotas at medical schools, high tuition fees, staff burnout etc.
Throughout my career I have seen when employers genuinely want and need new workers: they will entice you with a good salary and benefits, they will hire quickly (not like we have now with all this Linkedin bull crap where they endlessly harvest peoples data for profit while increasing the months between jobs).
There are plenty of people out there with lots of education and experience who get passed over because they aren’t young, dumb and full of (the boss’) c#m.
Great logic Frank Thoughts, much appreciated. I’m inclined to agree. Your logic is sound.
There were stats only a few years back, the companies creating nothing and managing everyone else were the largest growth companies in the world. These days there are more people interested in managing others than doing anything themselves. An entitled nation, an entitled world. That’s why I whip my kids around relentlessly and make them do so many chores. LOL. It’s good for them. And I wait in line for the cashier and refuse self check out, I walk past face scanning cameras and do not comply. Little actions matter, change takes time, longer based on peoples willingness to change. My slogan; We’ve had enough change to last a lifetime already. I’m always saying that whenever people try to suggest that I should use online this or that or whatever company directive they are so well trained to repeat.
Kill your television and quit your job! What the hell happened on this rock? I know not how my breathern fair, but for me, give me liberty or give me death. A life without liberty is not worth living. May the chains of servitude rest lightly on your sholders and may history forget you were ever our countrymen. And, get lit because it’s better to burn out than fade away. Now you better stop reaping all your ruin.. O.k., I’ll stop now, lol. People need to lighten up. Here is the best one of all; There is no greater objection than absence. So if you have had enough, just opt out and quit showing up. It’s not rocket science. Covid is so easy to navigate, a caveman could do it. Good times and die today. Rebel logic matters, cherish it and promote it. I’m training my young girls to talk long trash and they’re getting pretty good at it. The value of sarcasm. The power of art. The intention experiment, the world is what we make of it. All actions, a drop in the pond, all thoughts, eventually realized. Move mountains with faith. I want to believe.
Its not really that complicated to figure out,
those people that had the means to retire or quit early have done so and thrown in the towel. Who wants to work in a hotel or restaurants and be a good submissive mask slave to our masters.? Governments around the world have de-incentified work for hundreds of millions of people around the globe.
If I certainly had the means I would walk away today. Best plan accordingly, silver, gold, food and lead and a clean source of water will be needed if this world goes dark!