The Changing Face Of Labor

Things are happening fast.

We wrote about this topic a number of times because it is so fascinating what is taking place. There has not been a shift in employment to this degree for the last 50 years. Since the Boomers entered the workforce throughout the developed world, the paradigm favored employers.

It looks like this is all changing.

We are not mired in a race with companies turning to technology while employees are starting to demand more rights.

This is all leading to a very confusing situation which will likely exist until we see which direction things are heading long-term.

One thing we know, the Boomers in all countries are at the point they are starting to exit the workforce in large numbers. This is going to have a major impact upon things.

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Automation

It is no secret that many companies are complaining about their inability to find workers. This is a bit misleading. The entire premise of a "worker shortage" is being manipulated.

What is really taking place is the fact that companies refuse to increase wages to the point to eliminate the shortage. The reality is they cannot find workers for the price they are willing to pay.

Nevertheless, it is companies right to pay as they see fit. If they are not going to pay higher wages, then automation is going to have to be the answer. This is especially true in industries such as fast food, which always has a tough time getting workers, regardless of the labor environment.

McDonalds might have received the most recognition for their transformation to automated ordering. They are not, however, the only ones entering this realm.

Checkers and Rally's are not getting into the game. It is announced they will also add automated ordering to the drive-thrus in the corporate owned locations.

The restaurant company, known for its double drive-thru lanes, announced plans Monday to launch voice ordering bots at 267 corporate stores in partnership with Presto. Checkers is now the first national restaurant concept to scale the use of AI-powered voice assistants at the drive-thru, which will be rolled out throughout 2022.

At this point, it might be a matter of survival. These entities are facing the adapt or die moment. People simply are not willing to deal with that type of work anymore, especially for the wages offered. Even after increasing the wages some areas, the problem still persists. It just shows that perhaps there is more to it than just money.

How bad is the problem?

The move comes as the industry faces a massive labor shortage. In November, 920,000 employees quit working at restaurants and hotels, surpassing August's high of of 867,000 in the second half of 2021, according to Labor Department data.

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The Great Resignation is upon us. Companies are quickly starting to realize that employees are not longer going to be happy accepting crap work for equally bad pay.

The lockdown period seemed to give individuals time to re-evaluate their priorities. Evidently slaving away for some thankless corporation is not high on the list anymore.

Work-Life Balance

Whatever is the motivator, there seems to be a shift towards a work-life balance. The fact people are leaving jobs shows they are not going to beholden to the companies in the way they once were.

This is forcing corporations to adjust. Some are taking the initiative to adapt in a way that might help them retain workers.

Japan is a place where great experimentation is taking place. This country is really up against it due to the fact they have a horrific demographic situation. It is something they battled for 25 years and it is not getting any better.

For this reason, one of the most recognized brands, Panasonic, just announced they are offering an optional 4-day workweek. This is a marked shift from the Japanese mentality of a few decades ago. There was a time when the Japanese believed in outworking the rest of the world. It is a stance that was recently adopted by China.

There are projects in different parts of the world that are experimenting with this concept. It is likely to keep spreading since it appears workers understand things are starting to tilt in their favor.

Panasonic’s move is in line with actions by technology companies worldwide that are trying to attract talent in a tight job market by offering a shorter week. Amazon.com Inc. piloted a four-day week for select employees in 2018, and consumer-goods giant Unilever PLC in December 2020 started a yearlong trial of the shortened week for its New Zealand staff. Countries such as Ireland and Iceland are also trying it out.

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As we can see, the situation is multi-tiered. There is a lot of moving parts to this equation. We didn't even factor in the entire remote work movement. This is going to affect a lot o things such as real estate, property taxes, and where population centers are located.

The next couple years are going to see this process continue. Each side is trying to figure out what is going on. Nothing is for certain of than the fact that we are not likely going to see a return to how things were before March of 2020.

We are seeing a change in the face of labor. It is something that is going to take a while to resolve.


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Bang, I did it again... I just rehived your post!
Week 88 of my contest just started...you can now check the winners of the previous week!
!BEER
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Man... I remember being 21 years old working in a factory and my machine breaking down. It was running a problematic part and had been for days. It wasn't going to run again that night. I asked to take the rest of the night off to go to a concert but was denied. Instead I pushed a broom around all night trying to look busy enough to keep from getting tasked with something equally as pointless but worse.

It was the first time I can remember realizing that the employer/employee relationship was bullshit. I can't express how full of glee I am to not only see this happening, but to get to take part in it. I wish I had a bigger middle finger...

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You are right technology might fail sometimes and we need just maybe a little labor to cover up

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It makes me wonder why companies haven't used it earlier. After all, we are kind of use to having all those voice automated systems on the phone when we call into some corporate office. I think it will work and there just needs to be an extra button for those who want to talk to a person for other questions. However I guess it might take a while if someone holds up the line.

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You are going to laugh, but there was an episode of Grey's Anatomy that kind of touched on this topic. They were at a job fair trying to recruit doctors and name recognition alone wasn't enough. Not like it used to be. There is much more competition for talent now and it's the businesses that offer a fair wage and extra perks that are going to win out. I'm actually at a really bad position in my career for all of this to be happening right now. I think my geographic area doesn't help either...

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If they are not going to pay higher wages, then automation is going to have to be the answer.

I don't even think it is an open question anymore to be honest. I think automation is/has/will replacing/ed/e lots and lots of jobs across almost every industry. There will of course be new jobs related to automation itself, but companies will not need near as many employees as before. I can see positives and negatives in relation to automation and I find it hard to know for sure how this one will play out in the long term, but if people haven't already thought about automation and what it may mean for their industry or job, then I suggest they look into it and see how you can stay ahead of the curve - that might be upskilling, retraining, moving industry etc etc...

For this reason, one of the most recognized brands, Panasonic, just announced they are offering an optional 4-day workweek.

Now this I like. This very thing was trialled here in Ireland and the productivity and profits for the company in question increases, showing that even though people are at work for 5 days, you rarely get 5 full days of productivity from them, but if you give them a day off and ask them to squeeze the work into 4 days, they will work their asses off to do it.

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After reading your articles for the last few months, I can't help but come to a certain conclusion.
Everything is being manipulated and I can not trust what is being spewed out by the media about anything.
It is starting to become more obvious I mean everyone has an agenda and some have the power to enforce theirs.

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