Re: where have all the workers gone?

by Desirae Coty, Stevensville

Jerry, I read your opinion piece and understood your frustration and the need to blame a political party. I have to say, no administration has done anything in the last 20 years that hasn’t represented their own self interest. With that said, I think I have an understanding of where the workers have gone. 

During Covid lockdowns a lot of the baby boomers retired, fed up with the restrictions just to do their job. They represented the bulk of our experienced workforce. Then, people started working from home, and businesses realized that they could save money and still have their workers perform. All that is left are customer service workers, the lower on the pay scale, approximately $14-$16 hr. (Side note: there is a medical staff shortage because the hospitals would rather pay a traveling nurse/CNA at 3 times higher rates, instead of paying their own employees, because they get tax breaks to do so.)

With that, we come to the problem we have now. Let’s take Montana, for example, two years ago the average house was going for $300,000 to higher end of $500,000. (There are exceptions, of course.) Rent in the Valley, approximately $700-$1500. Let’s move to now, the average house is $500,000-800,000 (with exceptions) and rent has jumped to $1000-$2600. The locals, the work force, are faced with evictions to accommodate the greed, and nothing affordable to move into. These people have joined the “Illegal Campers” crowd. Really, that was their only choice. And there are A LOT of them. Most of these have decided to leave to try and find something where the cost of living matches pay. I hear “we are moving” daily. The rapid increase of rent and inability to buy is catering to those people that move here, work from home or don’t need to work, and think they are getting a “steal” on rent or purchase. They don’t need to join our workforce. 

I also want to address your assertion that people can simply “live off welfare.” They can’t. (Again there are exceptions). The ‘cash’ pay for welfare is so low, typically based on the number of children the person has, one would not be able to afford the high rent. If the person is receiving Child Support, that is taken by the state to pay back the cash payment, and the child support paying parent will accrue charges to pay the cash payments back. Additionally, the participant must actively seek employment, and/or take worker retraining classes. Food stamp recipients sign an agreement stating that they will find and keep employment within three months. Housing help, such as Section 8, has years’ long waiting list.  

I will state that I do not believe it’s “stress” in the traditional sense, not the sense that you had to deal with during your time in the workforce. With the shortages and the lack of employees this affects those that work at place, as well as the customers. The problem is, some customers do not see customer service workers as human. They tend to be emotional punching bags for those that are just as frustrated as they are. I personally have a very thick skin, but there are those that don’t. So, let’s just be kind to the people that went to work that day.