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Have you noticed how many businesses lately are SEVERELY understaffed? Especially companies that were hit hard by the Coronavirus but are now seeing a sharp uptick in demand now that our economy is getting back on its feet.

This includes restaurants, manufacturers, service companies, construction firms, and businesses in many other sectors. Let’s talk about some of the reasons why.

First, it’s clear that a fair number of people who had been employed in those industries have simply found employment elsewhere. In other words, they simply moved on to another industry that wasn’t as seriously impacted by COVID. That’s completely understandable.

Second, fear of COVID has been cited as the reason why some people aren’t returning to the workforce. Maybe, but given widespread vaccine availability (for those who want one) and life quickly returning to normal, this is probably not a big reason why someone would choose not to earn a living.

Which leads us to the third and most frustrating reason…

In many cases, people are STILL being paid more by the government to draw unemployment than they’d earn if working! We’ve been over this before – see my post from June 3rd.

For example, let’s say someone was drawing the maximum South Carolina unemployment benefit of $326 per week. If that person lost their job due to COVID, the federal government is also adding an additional $300 per week, making their total weekly benefit $626.

🔥 That works out to $15.65 per hour to be on unemployment! 🔥

Think about that for a minute. If someone could choose to NOT work yet still receive the 40-hour equivalent of $15.65 per hour, that person has ZERO financial incentive to return to a job earning anything close to that. In fact, that person might prefer to sit at home instead of returning to a $20/hour job! (Especially since the government also sent most adults three stimulus payments totaling $3,200.)

One could certainly argue that pandemic unemployment benefits were appropriate in the middle of COVID. But now that our economy is heating back up and many companies are DESPERATELY looking for employees, it is WRONG for the federal government to continue supplementing unemployment benefits. Especially for another four months, which is when the current round of bonus payments will expire.

So the next time you’re waiting an eternity because of a business’ staffing shortage, remember there could be several reasons why. 

‼ But don’t forget that big government has seriously exacerbated the problem. ‼