There is a labor shortage in Oregon and people are beginning to come to terms with It’s The Boomers Stupid! KGW8 reports that Boomers are leaving the workforce in a ratio of 2:1 of people coming into the labor force. Which means every time two boomers retire only one young person enters the labor force to replace them.
At a business round table, a business leader came up with a way to solve the problem:
“You’re going to have to steal people from other industries,” said Jeff Detrick, vice president of Swire Coca-Cola. “Shamelessly, you’re going to have to recruit from other industries.”
KGW8
Jeff’s solution isn’t new, we wrote about Texas poaching teachers from Arizona to fix the teacher shortage problem there. What is the net result of all the labor shortages across America? A lower quality of life for everyone. The Niskanen Center has a long list of quality of life issues that have arisen since covid.
Core quality of life issues caused by labor shortages:
- Out of stock items due to manufacturing constraints, supply chain disruptions and distribution networks
- Poorer delivery times due to lack of delivery personnel
- Insufficient flights due to lack of pilots, crews, ground personnel, etc.
- Longer wait times everywhere from border control, restaurants, government office services, etc
- Medical care delays, unavailability, etc.
The key is that covid didn’t cause these problem, it merely accelerated what was already going to happen which was millions of baby boomers leaving the workforce. When covid hit, many boomers close to retirement simply opted to retire early and few have returned to work.
There will be no easy solution to the labor dilemma but there will be opportunities to profit for the prudent investor. We’ll continue to search for ways to profit from the mayhem and keep you posted. Stay tuned and stay solvent…