Discussions

I know there is a shortage of workers in all areas . in area of trucker shortage where did the go how are they paying their bills ?

Probably on cerb why work now a days when you don’t have to…

No shortage . Just lots of people that think they are above doing an honest days work for a modest income.  
In the case of truck drivers natural wastage probably lost a lot, the training is expensive and time consuming ( I’ve done it) , testing was reduced due to covid so not enough new drivers have joined the workforce plus not everyone wants to be away from home doing long hauling.  
You can expect AI, robotics and automation in all areas to reduce the need for workers in the next few years and make the life of employers much simpler.  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2021-10-27 08:52:47

There is no doubt that CERB contributed to the worker shortage. There has been many instances reported thru various media outlets, there for any one to read.  
If a person was getting a two thousand dollar cheque monthly they didn't want to go back to work for maybe half or three quarters of what the feds paid them.

And I don’t say that those programs weren’t needed but they were quite generous. My wife was laid off due to covid in Spring2020 so she claimed for a little while and it sure helped. As soon as a new opportunity for a new job became available though she went back to work as soon as she could.

It's lots of people that finally figured out that they are not getting paid a fair or equitable wage for what they are being expected to do by unreasonable employers.  
 
There absolutely is not a shortage of workers, but a shortage of fair wages and people are finally fed up.  
 
Funny how businesses worship the law of supply and demand until it bites them in the ass. If you want workers, offer a better wage... you'll find a crapload.  
 
Edited by RantsFromAfar, 2021-10-27 09:29:07

that the gov't didn't have the time or resources to deny people who were not employed in the first place from collecting CERB. What a mess that turned into.

I have family who collected CERB (they were so incredibly thankful for it). She quickly found another job, within a few months, that paid better and had benefits etc. The CERB was critical for them.  
 
Another family member works as a manager for a job that, while it pays above minimum, is physically hard work, unsteady hours (they sometimes send workers home if there's not enough business that day) and no benefits at the lower levels (management has some benefits). They also need to deal with the public. It has always been tough to attract staff, and now it's nearly impossible because no one wants to work for those wages and not even be guaranteed the hours.  
 
There's been a huge exodus from food service too for the same reasons - bad wages, unstable hours, dealing with entitled customers who abuse them and no benefits.  
 
I worked food service and retail 20+ years ago before getting a good paying 6-month term job with the government. I kept working the crappy jobs initially evenings and weekends because I figured I would eventually get laid off from the government. But then I had an epiphany - I would make more on EI once I was laid off than I would working full time at these bad jobs. So I quit those and poured all my energy doing a good job at my government one (it was also the first time I could ever work just ONE JOB to make ends meet). I never did get laid off.  
 
So people are having that same epiphany right now. Why work for crap wages, especially when there's SO MANY better jobs out there. No one I know that got CERB is still on it, and basically all of them have found better jobs than the industry they left.

Cerb has ended lol. No cerb.

Now what's going to happen ?

Did it ever cross your mind that sometimes business owners with very tight margins find it difficult to meet payroll or satisfy demanding employees.  
I get it. I was employed before going on my own and at that time people were grateful to have work.  
It doesn’t change the fact that the modern workforce has become uncompetitive and relatively unproductive.  
As a small business owner I can’t meet pay expectations or employment requirements to hire anyone. I’m better off staying smaller and working on my own without the hassle of employing help.  
The big change in labour markets will occur as businesses adopt more technology and automation which will provide them with greater productivity and efficiency, and it’s only a few short years away.

All I know is there's more than ever a reckon of broken promises.  
 
But, is it too late to be fixed? The main consequence of Liberalism and Socialism is that one has to give and if one gives there are more consequences if one or the other decides to give and so on.  
 
Teach the kids critical thinking and hopefully they will figure it out.  
 
Its a big cat and mouse game right now.

What is interesting is how many company's will post that they are hiring but won't disclose how much they pay or what the benefits of working at said business are.  
 
I applied for a job to find out they only paid $13/hr... I make significantly more than that working from home... like ALOT more.  
 
I wouldn't have even answered the ad had they disclosed up front they pay $13/hr and they do not offer competitive benefits.  
 
If your a business stop asking for the maximum output of your employees when your only willing to invest the MINIMUM.  
 
Corporations aren't people, so its time to stop feeling bad for them when they can't keep exploiting people for minimum wage anymore.  
 
Would love to see a list of every single business in Brandon and how much they pay!

One thing I learned as an employee. No matter how long you stay with an employer or how far up that chain you move there is always someone ready and willing to step right into your shoes when you leave.

History sort of will gives us a picture of where we are headed, but maybe to a greater degree than ever before.  
The only thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history.

If you ever feel like spare parts while working for a business or corporation, that's because you are.  
 
They'll swap you out like a professional Nasar pit crew the minute you blow or start to show wear on the tread of those tires.  
 
Oh its your kids birthday? You better not go to that either or your fired.  
 
Your S/O got sick and needs to go to the hospital? Your S/O can take the bus, the company is more important and needs you now or your not being a team player and we only promote team players here at business XYZ.  
 
Managers/owners: We give up spending time with our family so that means you have should have to make the same sacrifices even though we only pay you minimum wage!  
 
Want a raise? We see you've been with the company for 5 years now and you're a top performing employee! But it just doesn't look like its in the budget to be able to give you that 10% raise you are not only worth but deserve, we can review this process again in 6-8 months. (Meanwhile said company made over 1.2million in profits, but claims it cannot pay a single employee an additional 10%)  
 
Does any of this sound familiar?  
 
Have you heard or been told similar things before?  
 
People are tired of being treated like spare parts.

If I was unhappy in a workplace I would go out and get a different job, I had no problem finding work. Someone always walked right into my old position quickly. No one is indispensable .  
People should be grateful that they have work.

I am self employed and love my job, read my previous post in this thread.  
 
I am willing to be grateful to a corporation or business only if they improve my life and don't take away from it. The current work environment promotes employers taking as much as possible from the employee and giving as little as possible back to the employee.  
 
Under what circumstances would anybody be grateful to be exploited or be grateful to be taken advantage of?  
 
Clearly wages and benefits are the problem or people would be lined up out the door to go back to work... This is not rocket science.

No it isn’t rocket science. No one is indispensable, we are all easily replaced by another person willing to do that work, improving technology or automation.  
The notion that any employee, business or industry is irreplaceable is outdated.

A-single person on cerb 2000 a month isn’t a whole lot of money (unless you live at home with parents) but others paying rent especially in Brandon it isn’t. High cost of groceries, and gas if you have a vehicle and if you do there’s autopac and car payments not a lot left at the end of month. And please don’t say take a bus lots of people work out of town too and buses are not an option.  
I really don’t think CERB is the only reason why all these places are short of help might have played a part but some people I talk to are still scared of COVID returning just as last year.  
Some People have changed their priorities ,their buying habits, these past 18-20 months and have learned to live on less and downsize spending just look at the number people on here that have opted to cancel cable,satellites, etc, opting for one vehicle, not dining out as much, some people have learned to live with less and simplify their lives.  
Also lots of the baby boomers , truckers i:ncluded, are reaching retirement age and leaving the profession. As my Dad says “ life is short” time to park his truck and enjoy life!  
We bought and read The Latte Factor book too - just like Adam said in his post amazing what you can live without and save dollars.  
 
Just my thoughts  
 
Edited by Mac72, 2021-10-28 11:36:07

I found out the wage in the interview. I turned down many many job offers until I found the wage I was worthy of and the hours I wanted.  
 
(kind of the like the new Amazon commercial).  
 
There is so much help wanted in my line of work . Many employers saying they can't find people to work or show up for $20-$25/hr. They used to have a stack of resumes for one position. I see a mass exodus from people leaving a jobs the are not happy with to go to something they enjoy and have a passion for. Like above poster said, "it's an epiphany".  
 
If Jo Blo across the road is giving you a two dollars more and dental plan, why would you stay at current job?

In my search for a job it feel like yes, employers expect a lot from workers for basically minimum wage with a lot of education too, and this is coming for a person who loves to work.  
 
And when it comes to a person with a physical disability that is trying to earn a living because they cannot live on disability, it put on extra pressure. When you give 120% of yourself everyday and it is never enough and school is just way too expensive and no on can help you in that matter you feel like you are stuck in a deep dark hole that you cannot get out of. When people tell you are not good enough or you someone just had more education than you. It's not that you are not trying and not wanting to work it is just that you can't afford to live any more.

I would love to get that much a month a month. On disability I don't even get half that, working I didn't even get that, and that was full time.

Wondering where you have worked as I have never experienced what you describe. Since I have started working full time, a few decades ago and with 6 different employers my family has always come first, and I have never had an employer take issue with that. I do take my child's birthday off and have never been even questioned about it.  
I am paid fairly for what I do, and on good years get very generous bonus's.

When will hard working university students get a break? Interns are hard to come by once after graduating in some fields.  
 
A CBC radio recently had discussed that University students are not learning the critical thinking skills required to be successful in the workforce that employers are searching for.  
 
Handouts only go so far like the CERB, now social assistance has closed many files of those whom fraudulently received the benefits and were on social assistance.  
 
Now there is a panic for other resources being utilized by those former "CERB ballers"  
 
Even men and women in jail were getting CERB cheques and then they lived it up by having lots of canteen collateral. Socialisms money helping out convicts in a justice facility which was paid for by the government.  
 
I think the people who voted in incompetent people for these positions are at fault, and not the other way around.  
 
Let's have another election like we just did and go along with the agenda and fill people with ideas that their country can ever pay itself out of debt, the bubble will get bigger and bigger.  
 
Edited by houriete22, 2021-11-03 02:53:47

I am having a hard time finding a job as I don't have that "university degree" but possess all of the experience.  
 
Keep getting passed over even though I have 20 years of experience just wasn't able to afford to go school....  
 
So even when I know I can do the job I get looked over because someone has "more education " than me. Doesn't real life experience count for anything anymore? I can't even apply for a bank teller job as you apparently need a business dregree!

Exactly how you feel, Snowball. I was passed over for promotions all the time as I didn't have the required "education". The required "education" didn't even pertain to the job. The "educated" ones didn't have a clue about the job but got it anyways. And I'm sitting there with tons of experience and know the job.

I work for a business such as the poster mentioned.  
 
I remember during one of the COVID rule changes, employees had questions, and the first thing the employers stated were how they kept getting phone calls while they were e joying their spa mud bath and had to come back into town to address things.

For eligible applicants, the maximum weeks allowed for the Canada Recovery Benefits (CRB) have been exhausted.  
 
There is a small window available for payments to be claimed for people that have not claimed certain weeks but meet the criteria.