"Although the U.S. economy has officially recouped the 20 million jobs it lost at the beginning of the pandemic, the gains have been uneven. Major shortfalls remain, particularly in low-wage industries that have lost workers to higher-paying opportunities in warehousing, construction, and professional and business services. The hospitality and leisure industry is still down 1.2 million jobs from February 2020. Public schools are missing nearly 360,000 workers and health care has yet to recover 37,000 positions. Rail transportation, meanwhile, is down 12,500 jobs." SOURCE

Most of their excuses are talking points from economist and corporate leaders whose intension is to fool the public into thinking workers are partly to blame for the crises. However, over the years, corporations have locked people out of the labor market and now they have a smaller worker pool to draw from.

People are seeking jobs every day. Some confess they have put in 100s of applications and never hear back. People seek jobs for months at a time before they even get an interview. The reasons they do not get jobs are never published in public alongside the economic talking points above because corporate leaders simply refuse to acknowledge they have stifled the market by locking qualified and able-bodied people out.

Lingering criminal records, suspended licenses for minor traffic violations, lack of credit worthiness, heightened education degree standards, race and age discrimination, and even negative social media post have locked millions of people out of the labor force.

Many times, people are forced to take low-paying and temporary jobs and jobs that pay under the table instead of W4 filing. "Although employers across the economy say they're struggling to find and keep workers, labor shortages are most pronounced in retail (where roughly 70 percent of job openings remain unfilled), manufacturing (about 55 percent) and leisure and hospitality (45 percent), according to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce analysis of Labor Department data." - SOURCE

Many of the low-wage retail and manufacturing jobs are shutting out people who would normally qualify if any of the above hinderances were eliminated. And when people do get those jobs, they have little or no benefits, have long hours, and do not pay enough for people to pay for childcare or even rent.

When people are up against a wall fighting traffic violations, paying back redundant fines, court costs, child support payments and having to attend state enforced traffic courses, drug rehab and community service, they do not have flexible enough schedules that meet the job requirement. The cycle continues because people cannot hold a job long enough to get their finances and time together.

Yes, people should take responsibility to be a productive and responsible citizen, but the added pressures of life created by social stigmas have weighed heavily on them and corporations show no apathy or responsibility; restricting sick days, time off request, and benefits in addition to using law enforcement and debt peonage to stifle and eventually shut them out. Now they cry about labor shortages.

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