We’ve been writing about the demographic “boomer” crisis the United States is currently entering and how by 2030, it will be a full blown economic/demographic crisis. In a post entitled, “The Next Civil War Will Be About Labor Not Politics,” we made the case that states will continue to fight it out among each other to attract more labor.
CNBC is reporting that West Virginia is now offering $20,000 incentives to get people to move to the state to fill labor shortage gaps.
West Virginia is offering $20,000 in cash and incentives to people willing to move to the state and live there for two years. In its first two years, the public-private partnership known as Ascend West Virginia says it has accepted 86 new workers among thousands of applicants, many of them relocating with spouses and family members.
CNBC.com
The key problem isn’t just labor however, there is a need for skilled and educated labor that can operate the re-shoring of manufacturing which often means complex machines designed to operate non-stop and in scale. CNBC reports that other states are offering different incentives and partnerships to get more people in the labor pipeline. Ultimately, many states are chasing after educated labor or offering incentives to educate the uneducated but what happens to all the unskilled labor jobs out there? Who will do the farm work? Office/hotel cleaning?
When existing unskilled labor is educated and up-skilled then it will create a new gap in labor and there simply aren’t enough people to back fill those roles. It will become a vicious cycle of labor depletion at all levels as everyone hopes to move up to the next level of skill and knowledge worker.
Of course there is also a severe shortage of teachers in the United States right now so it is very questionable about how any labor gets educated in the future. Ultimately, this will create an environment where the future is slow and the future is mental.
The best thing to do is to stay tuned and stay solvent…