About Us
Mission Statement
Rules of Conduct
 
Name:
Pswd:
Remember Me
Register
 

The Invisible People
Author: BobR    Date: 06/30/2021 12:49:20

All across this country of ours, people live and work and play, in big cities, small towns, suburbs, and rural spaces. A great functioning society requires a broad swath of people with varying skills, doing various jobs. For the past few decades, the focus on the "important" jobs has declared that office work - ostensibly obtained via a college degree - should be the life goal of every person.

Other jobs are often considered "starter" or "menial" or "service-industry", relegating them to a lower rung in our society, and thus the people who work them. But where would we be without those invisible people who do those invisible jobs? Who do you think makes sure your office is clean and ready when you show up in the morning, latte in hand? Someone needs to clean our offices and schools; someone needs to restock the shelves at the store, someone needs to flip the burgers while we wait at the drive through doing "important business" on our smartphones. Where would we be without the plumbers and AC techs and electricians and hair stylists and nannies and landscapers?

We are starting to find out.

In our pre-Covid world, gentrification was already becoming a problem. People want to live in a Disney-fied town, where everything is perfect, and everyone has their privately-owned small business. All those perfectly coifed houses and a "desirable zip code" drive housing prices up, making them unobtainable for all but the lucky people working those office jobs that pay so well.

Just like 9/11, "Covid changed everything". After being without work for months, and living life with government-subsidized unemployment checks, those working the "menial jobs" have realized their worth. They are not going to commute several hours a day for minimum wage, even if minimum wage is increased. This has left businesses in wealthier areas struggling to find workers to fill jobs:
At the Candy Kitchen diner on Main Street, the staff juggling orders of pancakes is short by seven members — and not one job seeker has dropped off a resume this year.

At Blue One clothing store down the street, the owner raised the hourly pay from $15 to $18 to lure workers.

[...]

The Hamptons is experiencing the same constellation of factors that has contributed to a national employment crisis, but here it is supercharged by elements unique to the upscale towns: Untold numbers of New York City residents fled during the pandemic, gobbling up the housing stock and driving up prices as they turned the summer escape into a year-round residence.

Plus, a spate of recent laws designed to limit the number of shared houses — seen by some as nuisance party houses — has sharply limited places where summer workers say they can afford to stay.

[...]

Some economists believe that the extra $300 a week from expanded unemployment benefits, a program that runs through September, is also responsible for keeping some workers home. And while teenagers are finding it easy to land jobs, after a year away from friends, busing tables and standing behind a cash register can have less appeal than frolicking as a camp counselor.

[...]

At Almond, Lemonides said that instead of his typical role as maître d’, he now fills in as the restaurant’s handyman, power-washing sidewalks and even renting a cherry picker to fix twinkly lights over the patio dining.

“There is no one else to do it,” he said.

[...]

The issue has even had an impact on the local government. Jay Schneiderman, the Southampton town supervisor, said the municipality has struggled to recruit people for town positions. It has been without a town accountant since May of last year, and for months has been unable to fill vacancies for six secretarial positions and three building inspectors as well as other roles, according to the human resources department.

“We can’t pay them enough to live in the community,” Schneiderman said.

“We need to create more affordable housing, we do. It is creating issues for so many businesses,” he added. “It’s not just the town, and certainly not just restaurants. It's the hospital needs nurses, the schools need teachers and custodians. Everybody is priced out.”

There are two solutions to this problem: higher base wages, and available lower-income housing. Both concepts require buy-in at the local, state, and federal government level, as well as the citizens of these towns. The area we moved from a few years ago required every neighborhood in the city to maintain a certain percentage of housing for lower income citizens, sometimes owned by the city itself. It also means narrowing the gap between the highest and lowest paid workers across the entire employment strata.

Ultimately, we as a society need to realize that ALL jobs are important, as are all workers. Not everyone is cut out for college, and looking down one's nose at the person who barely makes it out of high school and ends up cleaning the toilets at your office is the epitome of classist behavior. Appreciate those who do the jobs you're not willing or able to do, and make sure they can live in the same area where they work. Otherwise, these invisible people will become very visible by their absence.
 
 

21 comments (Latest Comment: 06/30/2021 20:08:33 by BobR)
   Perma Link

Share This!

Furl it!
Spurl
NewsVine
Reddit
Technorati