In my travels, there is a common occurrence no matter what part of the country I’ve been in. While entering nearly any business, there is a common placard in the window: HELP WANTED. It amazes me that there are so many available jobs right now, and there seems to be a total lack of motivation and desire by the unemployed U.S. population to fill these positions. It is having a major effect on day-to-day lives, whether it is trying to go to a restaurant that is understaffed or trying to find a truck driver to ship a load of calves from Montana to the Midwest. The delays and backups are real and are a serious problem.
It makes one wonder what we can do to motivate people to get back to work. In the pre-pandemic times, which feels like a completely different era than we are living in today, unemployment was at a record low, our economy was humming right along, people were working and goods and services were available. Obviously, this all came to an abrupt stop when we entered the pandemic. I am not going to argue whether shutting down our country was right or wrong, whether the manner we opened the country back up was effective or too soon, or how much politics played into the decisions that have been made and are going to be made. Those are all realities we must live with and learn to work around. Going forward, we need to determine how to motivate individuals to fill the available jobs, boost our economy and control our national debt.
The direness of this situation reaches from the mom-and-pop stores on Main Street to the large corporations. Consequently, our fearless leaders in D.C. are trying to find ways to tackle this issue. There are a slew of catchy-named bills being presented by politicians trying to address these issues. Last week, on the front page of the Western Livestock Journal, you had the opportunity to read about President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan. While I am certain there are some good ideas in this plan, and there are no doubt some opportunities in this plan for WLJ readers to take advantage of, it seems to me like this is another plan relying on the government to throw money at our problems. I know that my simple mind has a hard time wrapping around some of these extremely complex issues, but when we are talking about spending trillions while only increasing taxes by billions, it seems to me like we are heading for trouble.
Getting back to the labor crisis in our country, I do believe we will find the reality of automation replacing more jobs in the future. Things that seemed like science fiction are now becoming realities. Driverless trucks, robots flipping burgers or even robots disassembling livestock carcasses are ever closer to becoming mainstream. And who can blame the companies looking into these options? No more sick days or pandemic concerns, more predictability and consistency, along with many other benefits, make them appealing.
I don’t usually give celebrity opinions much consideration; however, one exception for me on this topic is Mike Rowe, who hosted the popular show “Dirty Jobs.” He created a foundation called the Mike Rowe WORKS Foundation. Part of participating with this foundation requires one to sign a 12-point pledge he dubs the S.W.E.A.T. Pledge, which stands for “skill and work ethic aren’t taboo.” I would encourage you to go and read these 12 points, and if you have influence over a younger generation, make them read them. Some of the points emphasize being grateful, avoiding unnecessary debt, taking responsibility for your own safety, recognizing that you are a product of your own choices and working your butt off. What surprises me most about Mike Rowe’s S.W.E.A.T. Pledge is the amount of resistance and criticism he has received for it. I guess, given the current times, I shouldn’t be surprised that a document encouraging you to work hard and take responsibility for yourself and your actions is met with criticism.
The latest unemployment levels are moving in the right direction. The October numbers pegged unemployment at 4.6 percent, down from the nearly 7 percent we were at a year ago. The trend is heading in the right direction, but we still have a lot of jobs to fill. Hopefully the true results of the proposed government programs are more jobs, a stronger economy, more tax revenue to cover the costs and that we actually do build back better. However, all things considered, I think that our country would benefit from having our politicians take a pledge similar to the S.W.E.A.T. Pledge. — DEVIN MURNIN
