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I was listening to the radio a few minutes ago, to a discussion of immigration reform and how the agricultural industry depends on "undocumented workers" to bring in the crops. If immigration reform doesn't pass in some form, the growers are afraid of labor shortages and crops left in the fields for lack of workers.
Meanwhile, unemployment is seen as a serious problem still.
So, how is it that we can have labor shortages and high unemployment at the same time? It seems to me that the system has to be badly out of whack for that to happen.
As one who has worked in the fields it's quite easy to understand. The people get free food, section 8 housing, an obamaphone and soon pretty much free health care why the hell would they work? Especially hard work!
I was listening to the radio a few minutes ago, to a discussion of immigration reform and how the agricultural industry depends on "undocumented workers" to bring in the crops. If immigration reform doesn't pass in some form, the growers are afraid of labor shortages and crops left in the fields for lack of workers.
Meanwhile, unemployment is seen as a serious problem still.
So, how is it that we can have labor shortages and high unemployment at the same time? It seems to me that the system has to be badly out of whack for that to happen.
Migrant farm labor is not a job for everyone. You usually must be willing to live in a labor camp, your truck or a motel to do it. This work is physically demanding (both the actual work and the working conditions), hourly pay is variable (based on production) and each job/location is temporary.
All that is so, which makes following the crops a difficult career choice. On the other hand, all it requires is a strong back and a tolerance for hard work and heat. It would seem to me to be a perfect fit for the high school dropouts who aren't qualified for anything else, and just might encourage them to become qualified for something less back breaking.
But, as long as the alternative is to continue to eat while not working at all, we'll still have the paradox of labor shortages at a time of high unemployment.
I was listening to the radio a few minutes ago, to a discussion of immigration reform and how the agricultural industry depends on "undocumented workers" to bring in the crops. If immigration reform doesn't pass in some form, the growers are afraid of labor shortages and crops left in the fields for lack of workers.
Meanwhile, unemployment is seen as a serious problem still.
So, how is it that we can have labor shortages and high unemployment at the same time? It seems to me that the system has to be badly out of whack for that to happen.
It's a one word answer, Welfare.
I was listening to the radio a few minutes ago, to a discussion of immigration reform and how the agricultural industry depends on "undocumented workers" to bring in the crops. If immigration reform doesn't pass in some form, the growers are afraid of labor shortages and crops left in the fields for lack of workers.
Meanwhile, unemployment is seen as a serious problem still.
So, how is it that we can have labor shortages and high unemployment at the same time? It seems to me that the system has to be badly out of whack for that to happen.
It seems to me that the current generation, and perhaps at least one before, have become soft and dependent on government rather than starting with hard work and moving up the social ladder.
My first job was hauling hay, back before the job of "haying" as it was called was mechanized, and the job required picking up bales that would weigh from 40-60 pounds or so, stacking them on a flatbed, then riding on top of the load as it was hauled to the barn to hand load and hand stack the bales once again. I've also worked in peaches, which is the worst due to being up and down a ladder all day and getting peach fuzz and juice all over you, and in the grapes, which is also hot and hard work. Picking peaches paid pretty well, too, if you were good at it. Pickers were paid by the box.
I couldn't do that sort of work any more, at least not for long, without my body protesting and quitting, but, back then, I was more flexible.
But, you don't see the youth even considering such work any more. Have they really gone soft, do they consider such work beneath them, or is it just that it's too easy not to work at all?
Most people live in cities. Agricultural work is not exactly a viable option.
Well...
Once the seeds of the industrial revolution were planted, the decline of agriculture as a job career for the masses was inevitable. Today, 3-4% of the population of a developed country should work in agriculture while the rest in something else. As technology progresses and automated processes and work robots develop, that % will be reduced even further. And as we move into the new economical paradigm, the industries and manufacturing businesses will also have maybe... 6-8% of the population working in such fields? Maybe less... and on the assembly line, almost nobody. Because robots will do that.
So we have the jobs of the future that will require more and more education... which may lead to a change in the way we view education and how we approach it.
You can't expect people to value agricultural work the same way people did 30 years ago. While I don't discourage the idea of children to participate with their parents and/or grandparents in home labour like i did when I was young ( all sort of stuff, tend to an orchard, cut the grass with a scythe, i know apiculture, pick grapes and make wine... and a lot more) it is merely a recreational activity and should be viewed as such. Not as a serious activity. Something like a game.
And the fact that unskilled labour force still is allowed to come in and flood the job market is damaging progress in the agricultural domain. Especially cheap labor. The govt should offer grants to large farmhouses to modernize their farming methods and comply with eco-friendly standards and nutritional food, and hence, cut down on jobs in the agricultural field. you would also discourage illegal immigration and discourage people from hiring illegal immigrants on crap pay.
I was listening to the radio a few minutes ago, to a discussion of immigration reform and how the agricultural industry depends on "undocumented workers" to bring in the crops. If immigration reform doesn't pass in some form, the growers are afraid of labor shortages and crops left in the fields for lack of workers.
Meanwhile, unemployment is seen as a serious problem still.
So, how is it that we can have labor shortages and high unemployment at the same time? It seems to me that the system has to be badly out of whack for that to happen.
Farming is not a game
Gov providing farm labor housing, WTF?
You go where the jobs are. If illegals can make their way through the desert from a foreign country a welfare queen in a city can make her way to an agricultural area
Or we could pay enough for the agricultural work and improve some of the conditions so that people with choices, rather than only desperate immigrants, will choose to work those jobs, but that will mean paying more for our food. Are we willing? I think the workers deserve it.
Still wondering how someone from a city is supposed to find their way to an agricultural job, though. Hop a bus and say "take me to the farms, driver"? Or do we want to start having the farmers (well, farm contractors) send buses into the cities and pick people up? Again, they are going to have to offer more money than they're doing right now. And provide housing since those young people will be away from their parents' houses.
Just remember a lot of the unemployed aren't young people; they are in their 30s, 40s, 50 and have been "downsized", "rightsized", "rif'd" out of their jobs and then told because they're unemployed they can't apply for new jobs that open up...
This economy sucks. And some simplistic "they should all go work for the summer for farmers" isn't going to fix it.
It's a one word answer, Welfare.
Exactly! make it an 8 hour day, with OT pay... raise the pay to a higher level... have a lot more watering stations out there.. have decent temporary housing .... All things that will raise our food prices, but that will also make these jobs more appealing to people who have other options.
And no, I'm not talking welfare. I'm talking jobs at fast food places that pay better than farm jobs pay.
Still wondering how someone from a city is supposed to find their way to an agricultural job, though. Hop a bus and say "take me to the farms, driver"? Or do we want to start having the farmers (well, farm contractors) send buses into the cities and pick people up? Again, they are going to have to offer more money than they're doing right now. And provide housing since those young people will be away from their parents' houses.
Just remember a lot of the unemployed aren't young people; they are in their 30s, 40s, 50 and have been "downsized", "rightsized", "rif'd" out of their jobs and then told because they're unemployed they can't apply for new jobs that open up...
This economy sucks. And some simplistic "they should all go work for the summer for farmers" isn't going to fix it.
First of all, you have not worked in the fields. If you did work in the fields you would have noted that working in the fields is among the most hazardous lines of work that is actually insurable by worker's comp. Private insurers won't cover farm laborers because of the severe threat of injury, heat stroke, and death.As one who has worked in the fields it's quite easy to understand. The people get free food, section 8 housing, an obamaphone and soon pretty much free health care why the hell would they work? Especially hard work!
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