How EC students are dealing with the labor shortage
By Jack Veenema
According to Marketplace Morning Report, there are around 10.4 million jobs in America, but only around 8.4 million people are looking for work.
The labor shortage in America has gotten very large due to many people deciding they do not need to look for work, or deciding it’s just not worth it.
Eastern Christian senior Joe Vivolo might provide some insight into why people are leaving jobs and staying home. Joe works at ShopRite Wyckoff as a cashier, but also fixes shelves and provides customer service along with anything else management might ask. When asked about his experience, he claimed it has been very negative so far, emphasizing the poor communication throughout all levels of management. This is not necessarily the main issue across the nation, but Joe claims it is the main one at his place of work. All around the country, places of business are looking for employees, leaving signs outside the store to be kind to the workers they do have, and apologizing for the possibility of slow service. Even when Joe does want to go into work, there are always scheduling issues within the store. The managers will put you on the schedule on your days off, and then call you wondering where you are. The opposite will also happen, where you get to work and cannot clock in because they didn’t change the schedule.
“The conditions and lack of pay give me the feeling that I am not staying for much longer”
says Joe. He said management seems like it will never be fixed, so the only way to get him to stay would be a raise in pay. This also directly relates with issues around the nation, as workers are demanding more pay for their jobs and deciding it might just be better to stay home sometimes.
Jayson Farraye, another senior at Eastern Christian, can provide insight into why he has chosen to not have a job. He says that with school and sports together, there are not enough quality jobs to get him to rethink his priorities. There aren’t jobs with good enough conditions and pay to make it worth sacrificing his time and efforts in other aspects of life. If jobs like this became available and willing to somewhat adjust to the schedule of a student, then he would definitely consider becoming employed.
Many students at EC are eager to work, yet they may be like Joe Vivolo, who is facing a poor work environment, or like Jayson Farraye, who is looking for a suitable place to work.