"People don't want to work anymore"

It's a lot of things. Lack if childcare. Moved on to other jobs after they were laid off. 600K have died and many have long haul covid and can't work. But really, it's not just one thing.

Many have moved on to better job/better pay. Some are retraining. Some are going back to school. Some have decided they don't need the second income or may decide to work part time. Some have physically moved to other areas. And yes, as mentioned above over 600,000 people have died some are still sick..

I'm sure there are more reasons..

how do you explain the help wanted signs in ever single place of business? before covid you could barely find a job. now a business can barely find an employee.

so, yes, i think some people are staying home until benefits stop.

I forgot. I have heard that many can’t find childcare so maybe that’s an issue. Weren’t a majority of jobs lost women and I thought it was thought that they needed to take care of children doing remote schooling?

I know there are signs here everywhere but people keep posting online that they aren’t even hearing back after they apply. Then you hear the other side that says they try snd interview people snd more than half never even show or if they do and you hire that many don’t bother to show up. So who knows.

That extra $300 a week was not accepted by every state. Our dickhead Governor refused it in Oklahoma, so the extra $300 that the unemployed received here ended in May. Also, unemployment is never equal to what a person made while on the job. When I was laid off last year, my unemployment was just below HALF of my salary. Without that "bonus" money I wouldn't have been able to pay all my bills every month. So the people that are saying that the unemployed are milking it and just want to lay on the couch can suck it. Because even with the bonus it's still not a livable wage.

I heard an interview on NPR this morning with the Chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Services.  He was talking about the Delta COVID surge and the lack of hospital beds and staff as a result.  He said that staff is exhausted, burned out, working ‘round the clock, and unlike in the initial COVID crisis, they are also ANGRY enough at the wave of primarily unvaxxed patients to say we’ve had enough, and walk off.  I can certainly see their point.

I agree with those that said there are multiple factors.

The Daily podcast recently did an episode where they talked to people in the restaurant/hospitality field. They talked to several owners as well as employees that weren't going back to work yet. Prior to this episode, I didn't think the extra unemployment was that much of a factor, but after this, my thoughts have changed a little. All of the employees said that they had realized during the shutdown that they were working too hard for too little money, didn't like how they were treated, etc. They all are still receiving unemployment and don't appear to be looking for other jobs yet. I can understand changing your career path after re-evaluating your job and what it was costing you physically and emotionally. But IMO they should not be examining their next steps while receiving unemployment for months. One woman had a baby and was talking about how much daycare would cost vs what she would make at work. Uh...didn't they think of that before getting pregnant? I don't think anything changed between now and then, except that right now she is getting paid to stay home. They need to be working somewhere and then figuring out what they are going to do next. The toll that this is taking on the employers and the economy as a whole is horrible.

I am in agreement with extending the unemployment in certain situations. But, like the eviction moratorium and other types of assistance, I wish there was a better way to assess who truly needs it. IMO, if they have been offered their jobs back, the unemployment stops. That is what I thought was happening but it apparently is not.

Last week I looked at the unemployment numbers in MN in February 2020 compared to now. If what I found was correct, it was 3.2% before the pandemic and 4% now.

Some people are downsizing their lifestyles to live on one partner's income. Others are dipping into savings or getting help from family while they figure out the next move. If I didn't have two kids in college and thus increased expenses, we would have downsized and I wouldn't be teaching this year.

I am still technically on unemployment but I haven’t been paid anything since mid June. I still certify for benefits and I am required to look for work, but have been stuck in a pending cycle for months. Thankfully my husband and I saved for years so I could take a year long maternity leave so even if it seems like I’m being paid to stay home, that money hasn’t been coming for a long time. And it certainly isn’t anything close to what I was getting paid to work.

I think the biggest factor is that people died. Over half a million people and they had to be a big portion of the working population. Businesses have closed or changed their way of doing things - that’s why I ultimately lost my job after months of being furloughed. I worked in a public office that has closed and now does everything online, my industry is done for so now I have to pivot to a new job entirely. It was on the way but covid certainly sped it up.

I am 56. I don't really wanna work anymore.