They say politics makes strange bedfellows and nothing is more perplexing than a state with dire labor shortages that is impacting the distribution of a key resource like water and a Governor that is shipping tens of thousands of newly arrived labor onto other states..
From the Texas Tribune:
LUFKIN — Texas’ aging water and wastewater infrastructure — already in disrepair and losing billions of gallons of water a year — is facing a second and equally ominous threat: a worker shortage.
An estimated 37% of water and 31% of wastewater workers will retire by 2028, according to a 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office. And the next generation isn’t refilling their ranks.
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Earlier this year, Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 1845, which allows high school students to work toward becoming a water or wastewater operator while they are still in school.
Source: TexasTribune.org
The New York Times Reports on how Texas Governor Greg Abbott has shipped 50,000 immigrants to other states while desperately seeking labor to fix corroding and collapsing water lines. From the NY Times:
A year and a half after Gov. Greg Abbott began busing newly arrived migrants from Texas to large Democratic cities whose leaders had pledged to provide sanctuary, the state has now sent more than 50,000 migrants to destinations across the United States, helping to provoke a shelter crisis in several cities that has reshaped the debate over immigration.
Source: New York Times
In order for any economy to function there are some basic needs that must exist such as utilities (electricity, water, fuels) and labor. The U.S. currently has an unemployment rate of 3.8% indicating that most of the employable people within the United States are already employed yet there is much work that still needs to be done on farms, utilities, manufacturing and almost every other level of services.
The problem isn’t unique to Texas, in Alabama there have been a shortage of farm workers for 20 years.
Produce farmers in Alabama have struggled to find workers for more than 20 years, said Blake Thaxton, executive director of the Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Association and director of the Alabama Farmer Federation’s Greenhouse, Nursery and Sod Division.
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From plant nurseries to catfish farms, more Alabama producers are using the visas. Both Alabama Department of Labor and U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services data show an increase in application and H2-A approvals in recent years. The federal data shows just a few dozen H2-A visas issued to Alabama companies in 2017 and 2,178 in 2022.
Source: ALDailyNews.com
These stories, and many like them, are why we developed our DIVOS™ which focuses on companies that have a high net income per employee and a few other factors. The future for companies that can’t attract labor now and in the future is bleak.
To learn more, stay tuned, stay profitable and stay solvent…