#workforce shortage

[intelligentchristianlady]

Why We Actually Need Immigrants

The U.S. will face a shortage of six million workers by 2032 due, in part, to mismatches between workers and jobs, and the decline in workforce participation among men. According to the study, without increased immigration, working-age people will start to disappear from the labor force, leaving the U.S. unable to sustain its workforce with U.S.-born workers. (From Bloomberg, behind a paywall; cited here)

[tiktaalic]

The good thing about stem. Is that. The job interview are like. So you have your degree? Cool. You can start next month? Cool. I’ll poke HR and you’ll start getting paperwork soon.

[everything-is-interesting-ldn]

Responding to human emotion will be crucial to feeling comfortable with a robotic companion. Using the right amount of strength specific to the circumstance in a consistently reliable way will be a non-negotiable for us to feel safe around our robot friends.

Getting this right in care homes, that have a labour demand that is struggling to be met by a human workforce will be a major milestone on the journey towards mainstream adoption of humanoid robots.

[nnctales]

The Growing Need for Labor in the Construction Industry

The construction industry is facing an unprecedented labor shortage, creating a growing need for skilled workers. This demand is driven by several factors, including an aging workforce, increased infrastructure spending, and the evolving landscape of construction projects. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for addressing the challenges and ensuring the industry’s future growth. The Aging…

[chronicbitchsyndrome]

so... i'm seeing a lot of activism (like, actual activism, not just tumblr posts--letters & scripts to us senators, for example, copy written for press, etc) focusing on improving ventilation & filtration as primarily an access issue for immunocompromised people. basically, presenting the argument as "this is in service of this demographic, who is blocked from public access currently."

this is like. true. of course. it is the main reason i want clean air and i think it is the most pressing reason overall for it. but i think it's the wrong tack for building a clean air movement and getting legislation passed.

like, unfortunately, the vast majority of people in power--and of americans in general, tbh--are not immunocompromised and do not have immunocompromised roommates or family members. should you have to have this experience to understand that public access is a big fucking deal for, like, staying alive? no! you shouldn't! but most people straight up will not understand whatsoever unless they have personal experience with immune compromisation.

trying to change hearts and minds to have cognitive sympathy for disabled people takes a long time, decades' worth of work to just change a handful of people; meanwhile, getting legislation passed is 1) imminently important, 2) while still a lengthy process, takes significantly less time if it doesn't hinge on first converting the majority of the population to have sympathy for a marginalized demographic they have no contact with (and yes, they have no contact with us because we are barred from public access to begin with, again, i am aware of how fucked up this is).

here's some arguments for passing clean air legislation that are designed to appeal to a normative, conservative-leaning crowd:

air filtration is a public health and sanitation baseline just like running water. we provide clean water to drink and wash our hands in as a baseline for public life; we should also be providing clean air to breathe similarly.

improved ventilation and filtration in schools results in less sick days for students, meaning better attendance and less time off work for parents.

improved ventilation and filtration in the workplace results in workers taking less sick days. it also makes it less troublesome when a coworker comes in sick; it's less likely you will have to take sick leave as a result.

improved ventilation and filtration in hospitals, doctors' offices, etc, helps combat the health care worker shortage by reducing the amount of sick leave health care workers need. it additionally makes hospitals safer overall; for example, it makes it safer for cancer patients to be in the same building with patients with highly infectious airborne illnesses such as chickenpox.

improved ventilation and filtration in public buildings at large could improve the economy, as less workers stay home, more people enter the workforce, more people begin attending public businesses like bars and venues, etc.

if government programs to upgrade ventilation and filtration are created, this could create jobs for blue-collar workers, further improving the economy.

the last note i have is that, as much as this sucks shit, don't mention covid as much as you can avoid it. covid has become a massive culture war thing in the usa and as soon as you bring it up, the entire discussion becomes about virtue-signaling and showing in-group affinity--it doesn't matter what you're saying about covid, anyone who thinks "covid is over" will immediately shut down and become incapable of listening to anything else you have to say. and unfortunately, a majority of the population does, in fact, think covid is an irrelevant concern even for immunocompromised people in 2024.

importantly, all general air sanitation improvements will improve the covid situation significantly. in this context, you do not have to talk about covid in order to make real, material changes limiting the spread of covid. system-level changes that limit the spread of things like the flu and chickenpox are equally effective in limiting the spread of covid. take advantage of that!

[ranjith11]

Quality Control for offshore staff | Future Accounts Proof

Welcome to an enlightening journey into the world of offshore excellence! In this video, we unravel the significant role of quality control for offshore staff in shaping a thriving future. With a keen focus on future accounts proof, we delve into strategies and insights that pave the way for seamless offshore operations. Join us as we explore how quality control acts as the linchpin in harnessing success and efficiency among offshore teams. Discover the core tenets that empower offshore staff to be future-ready and deliver exceptional outcomes in the dynamic landscape of tomorrow.

[digitalyogii]

Technology salaries remain relatively stable due to persistent skill shortages.

In 2023, the impact of the digital skills shortage on New Zealand’s tech landscape is significant, as revealed in the latest Tech Alliance digital skills report. As per the report, an overwhelming 96 percent of IT employers in New Zealand anticipate this persistent skills gap to affect their operations throughout the year. Out of the 159 organizations participating in the third New Zealand…

[endlingmusings]

"The Asiatic cheetah is on the brink of extinction due to worsening conditions. Unfortunately, wildlife conservation in Iran is not a top priority for the government, which is under intense pressure from sanctions. These sanctions not only affect the government but also the livelihoods and employment conditions of the people across the country. Companies and factories are going bankrupt, and their workforce is being downsized. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep experts at non-governmental and non-profit organizations that are dedicated to preserving wildlife. Individuals are forced to migrate from hope to despair to sustain their paths of career growth and prosperity for themselves and their families. The Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS), which used to have over 50 members, now manages all conservation, educational, and advocacy activities with only six individuals. Among them, we manage to pay a modest salary to only one person and struggle intensely with a shortage of manpower and budget. In the past year alone, three key members decided to migrate. If we are to dedicate more time and resources to the conservation of the Asiatic cheetah, there is no solution other than preserving the few remaining workforce. It is important to note that extinction won’t wait for political issues to be solved. The current supporters of the ICS have somewhat assisted in keeping ongoing conservation activities in the field, despite sanctions and economic hardships. However, the lack of sufficient manpower for field deployment renders project budgets futile, no matter how much they increase. Therefore, this year, we intend to request assistance for covering the salaries of our conservationists and aim to secure project costs from larger institutions throughout the year since they are generally uninterested in covering human resource expenses. According to our estimates, by Giving Tuesday next year, each full-time expert will incur at least 4100 euros in expenses. This amount covers only the salary and does not include insurance and other expenses, which we hope to obtain from other sources. With every 4,100 euros, we will be able to contract a full-time force for one year. We hope to raise a minimum of 8,200 euros from Giving Tuesday to International Cheetah Day this year. You can also contribute by securely donating money through PayPal at HelpCheetah.com or by sharing this message with others, helping us remain hopeful for preserving the Asiatic Cheetah."

- The words of Iranian Cheetah Society CEO Morteza Pourmirzai.

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[justinspoliticalcorner]

John Knefel at MMFA:

The Heritage Foundation — lead organizer of Project 2025, a sprawling effort to provide policy and staffing for a second Trump administration — recently promoted an apprenticeship program that opens up workers to increased exploitation. Heritage also criticized President Joe Biden for ensuring that most federal infrastructure contracting projects are covered by collective bargaining agreements.

In an article headlined, “Harris, Walz Policy Records Undermine Pro-Worker Rhetoric,” Heritage argues for a return to Trump-era apprenticeship policies that left new workers vulnerable by creating a two-tier workforce, and it disparages unions as detrimental to the working class. The result is standard-fare for the conservative think tank, which regularly attacks unions and promotes anti-worker policies like so-called right-to-work laws, which starve unions of funds by denying them the ability to collect fees from all the workers they represent.  As head of Project 2025, Heritage has waged an all-out campaign against unions and the entire working class. The effort’s policybook — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise — calls for the dismantling of New Deal-era wins for organized labor by carving out state-level exceptions to the National Labor Relations Act. It would also eviscerate overtime regulations and open the door to increased child labor exploitation.

The new article furthers Heritage’s broadside against organized labor, even while masquerading as being pro-worker. Heritage criticizes what it characterizes as “the Biden-Harris Administration’s multi-front assault against apprenticeship programs,” specifically the administration’s cancellation of “new Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs,” or IRAPS, “that were training people in high-demand areas like nursing and technology, which now face significant workforce shortages.” In fact, IRAPs were a Trump-era policy that created a new class of apprenticeship programs that were controlled and overseen by employers — rather than the Department of Labor — and loosened standards meant to protect workers. As the progressive think tank The Roosevelt Institute wrote in response to the Trump-era rule, IRAPs are “likely to lead to a proliferation of programs that are lower-quality,” and could allow employers to exploit “loopholes in minimum wage laws.”

[...] This new salvo from Heritage is just the latest example of right-wing media pretending to endorse a pro-worker agenda, only to advance policies that benefit employers at the expense of labor.

The Heritage Foundation= enemies of workers’ rights.

[qqueenofhades]

Hoping you can explain this because you’re smart but why in the world are the same people who scream about a labor shortage worried about the border and immigration? Isn’t more people coming to our country a good thing if we train them properly to fill vacant positions (a lot of which are service jobs anyway)?

Alas, you are forgetting what is quite possibly the chief shibboleth of Western white supremacy/far-right nationalism: that all people from other countries, especially *gasp* the brown ones, are invaders, murderers, job-stealers, polluters of the (white) body politic, etc, and that under no circumstances should they be invited or allowed to stay. This isn't just an American thing; witness the Tories in the UK salivating over the idea of torturing migrants, trying to shut down any legal migration routes even with the employment black hole caused by Brexit, steadfastly denying that their workforce problems have anything to do with Brexit, steadfastly denying that they need to loosen immigration rules, etc. This is also the case with the European right/far right, the Australian far right, and anywhere else in the world that has historically been built on systems of white colonization, white supremacy, and other racial and legal scaffolds of privilege and exclusion. The white people who come to a country and settle it are bringing "civilization" and therefore should be welcomed and encouraged, but the non-white people who already lived there are "savages" and need to be exterminated for the good of the "master race." If they try to come back to the (white) nation state after their homelands were colonized, moreover, they are "invaders" who just want to "soak up the money of hard-working citizens" and etc etc.

The core fascist hatred of immigrants is also why Trump is directly echoing Hitler's anti-immigrant rhetoric with his "poisoning the blood of America" screeds, his promise to round up and deport migrants en masse, and otherwise be as massive of a dick as possible. The fact that there's no economic benefit and indeed a lot of economic pain is entirely beside the point. Trump and his deranged followers like the cruelty and the idea of torturing brown people for daring to come to "their" (white) America, and think that if they can be outrageously monstrous enough, this will finally deter all the other ones from coming. It won't, and no globalized economy will run without immigrants, but again, this isn't the point. Reality or pragmatic calculations have nothing to do with it. It's only about what can cause the maximum amount of cruelty and chaos to everyone who doesn't wholeheartedly worship and fit the (white) fascist model. That's why the Republicans yelled about wanting a border bill before they'd fund Ukraine; the Democrats obligingly gave them one with some of the toughest restrictions in years, and the Republicans yelled and threw it away because Dear Leader Trump told them to trash it. In some sense this is a good thing, because it meant that Ukraine got funded without being beholden to performative partisan cruelty at the border, but it also shows that they don't actually care about any of this. They have bluntly stated in so many words that they want a manufactured crisis at the border so Trump will have it as a campaign issue. Then he can take office and implement all his terrible concentration camps and all the other genocidal fascist bullshit of Project 2025 (bUt bIdEn iZ thE wOrsE oPtiOn!!!!!)

So: yeah. There's no point looking for any actual consistency or logic in the modern far right, because that is so far from the actual aim. No matter if migrants are essential, no matter if Americans literally won't take many of the jobs they do, etc. I live in a big city that has had a ton of migrants coming here and have read many, many news articles about how all they want to do is get a work permit, make their own money, learn English, and integrate into American culture; they are often far more positive about the prospects of America than actual Americans. But because the entire project of a (white) fascist ethnostate as advocated by Trump and co. in America, the Tories/Reform in the UK, and the far-right European parties, Russia, and other places (this is all connected worldwide -- again, it's not limited to one country or region), rests on demonizing (brown) immigrants as subhuman scroungers who come to rape, murder, steal jobs, and otherwise threaten (white) law-abiding citizens, that will always win out above every single other consideration.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A survey of Canadians’ health care concerns reveals nearly three-quarters of Canadians think health care in their province is in a state of crisis, and the majority think governments aren't doing enough to fix workforce shortages.

The poll was commissioned by the Canadian Health Coalition ahead of the annual meeting of the 13 provincial and territorial leaders in Halifax this week.

"Voters have a message for their premiers when they meet in Halifax for the Council of the Federation,” said Canadian Health Coalition chairperson Jason MacLean. “Canadians want provinces and territories to work with the federal government to improve public health care for everyone."

About eight in 10 Albertans said they support stronger cooperation between the provinces and the federal government to develop and implement a plan to recruit and retain more health care workers, and 79 per cent said they want the province to work with Ottawa on a national pharmacare program.

While survey respondents from across Canada backed collaboration on health care, premiers have shown reluctance to get behind some federal initiatives.

In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent last week, the premiers urged the federal government to "refrain from unilateral actions in areas of provincial and territorial jurisdiction, particularly in health care, education, and housing."

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Tagging: @newsfromstolenland, @abpoli

[fdrlibrary]

A Woman’s War

Personnel shortages led the military to enlist more than 300,000 women volunteers during World War II. All of the military services created posters that encouraged women to join up. Thousands were recruited to serve as nurses. But many more chose to enter one of the women’s auxiliaries formed by the services.

Over 150,000 served in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC/WAAC) in jobs ranging from telephone, radio, and teletype operator to cryptographer, medical technician, sheet metal worker, and aircraft mechanic.

The Navy recruited over 80,000 WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). They worked as clerks, secretaries, cryptologists, air traffic controllers, meteorologists, and translators.

The Marine Corps Women’s Reserve, established in February 1943, enrolled 23,000 women during the war.

While the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve enlisted more than 10,000 between 1942 and 1946.

Like some of the wartime posters that encouraged women to the join the industrial workforce, military recruitment posters sometimes offered mixed messages. Prevailing biases regarding gender roles dictated that women not serve in combat roles.

Learn more about this collection: https://fdr.artifacts.archives.gov/advancedsearch/Objects/invno%3AMO%202005.13.17*/images?page=1

Follow along throughout 2024 as we feature more #TheArtOfWar WWII posters from our Digital Artifact Collection.