People are back at work, just different jobs.

The unemployment rate is near historic lows.

Out of curiosity I looked at Hilton's benefit and wage packages. Line cook average is $13 hr. Average cook wage in OKC is about $11 hr. Beats the $7.25 hr Oklahoma minimum wage and the $1.25 I made way back when (I'm old). Benefits pkg is as competitive as any company out there. I retired from a major defense contractor and Hilton pkg is as good as theirs. And we definitely didn't get 5 weeks PTO. So some other reason than pay and benefits for folks not going back to work.

I am a small business owner in OKC and here is what the base appears to be in hiring:

If I want an adult worker who can/will-

Pass a drug test

Not be a registered sex offender

Show up for work within 30 minutes of starting time 5 days a week

Able to be supervised and engage in some type of work

I've gotta pay $15/HR to start.

Hobby Lobby and Amazon have set that number as the base, and people want their stability enough to accept stricter working conditions than they will accept from small fry like myself.

^

Amazon and HL also pay benefits and I know Amazon has been offering $1-$2K signing bonus.

Food service not only completely cut loose almost all their employees at the onset of the pandemic, but many of these places also close without notice. It's very common for employees to show up for work and see a sign on the door telling them they are out of a job.

Plus working conditions at the very bottom of the barrel.

Who can blame anyone for going to work for Amazon at twice the pay plus benefits and the security of knowing you are probably never going to be laid off? They work their employees hard but it can't be harder than food service or cleaning hotel rooms.

It just goes to show how most hotels, restaurants and bars have never properly paid their staff.

It would be interesting to compare the incomes of those that comment, on why people don’t want to work for low wages.

People are back at work, just different jobs.

The unemployment rate is near historic lows.

the unemployment rate doesn't count those not looking for work (in the last 4 weeks) ...

it would be interesting to know how many people that includes ..

the unemployment rate doesn't count those not looking for work (in the last 4 weeks) ...

it would be interesting to know how many people that includes ..

We've been over this...

You can't receive benefits if you aren't looking for work.

We've been over this...

You can't receive benefits if you aren't looking for work.

i agree with that ... but if you are 20 and now live at home with your parents and stop looking for work after 4 weeks you don't count as part of the unemployment number anymore ..

We've been over this...

You can't receive benefits if you aren't looking for work.

from the bureau of labor

People are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work.

^

Right. Thanks for making my point.

^

Right. Thanks for making my point.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/blog/2021/05/07/the-employment-situation-in-april/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/nearly-1-5-million-mothers-are-still-missing-from-the-workforce-11619472229

my point is that we are still at over 3 million people below the labor force participation number that we were pre pandemic .. .(this is not unemployed people this is people choosing not to work)

And if they are choosing not to work, it's not because of government benefits because if you take yourself out of the labor market you can't receive them.

And if they are choosing not to work, it's not because of government benefits because if you take yourself out of the labor market you can't receive them.

i agree with that .. . i just think it is possible that it is having some of the trickle down effect .. and causing the less desirable jobs to go unfilled ( or have a hard time being filled)

If you didn't have a college degree, think about the wide array of jobs available to you here in OKC.

You have places like Amazon and Hobby Lobby which pay $15/hour plus benefits (and maybe even a signing bonus). Between the two, they employ about 10,000 in OKC and for quite some time (before the pandemic) they have had a lot of open jobs. There are thousands of similar jobs in other distribution centers.

Then you have the call centers: Dell, Costco, Farmers, Hertz, Midfirst, etc. You get to sit down in a/c and they also offer good pay and benefits.

If you are good with your hands, there are absolutely tons of construction jobs and many pay very well.

The state and city employ tens of thousands of people who don't have a college degree.

Then you have the gig economy: Uber, Lfyt, Door Dash and a hundred others.


Why on earth would you go work in food service for less pay, no benefits, terrible working conditions, horrible hours, and for people who constantly lay off staff without warning? The only reason would be no other options and now the opposite is true.

^
all of that... plus a person can do pretty well at tinker without a college degree.

We've been over this...

You can't receive benefits if you aren't looking for work.

I think people are confused on this because because for a time up until around October you didn’t not have to show job search to get benefits but that ended in October and the requirements to look for job returned.
I do believe there is still some relaxed rules around you can claim Covid safety the job has to provide but the work search requirement came back to Oklahoma and is required to get the benefits today

Not all states are back to requiring the work requirements again which probably adds to the confusion as people assume what they hear about other states applies to Oklahoma. I do believe majority of states now are requiring it again or will be soon

^
all of that... plus a person can do pretty well at tinker without a college degree.

There are two guys (at the very least, I'm sure there are more, our IT group is huge, these are the two that physically work in the same office location I do) in IT where I work that don't have degrees, and one of them is very high up in systems engineering.

BTW, food service has had hiring problems for decades and it just keeps getting worse.

I did a consulting gig for Arby's and Long John Silver's in the '90s and they were having a terrible time nationwide even back then.

Think about the number of fast food places and restaurants and bars that have opened since that time. And there are tons more in the pipeline.

That industry simply needs to pay and treat people better which means we all will be paying a bit more.

The pandemic flush should have been used as an opportunity to restructure the service industry in USA. Remove tipping system that allows owners to pay staff pathetic wages. Make it public so people know that tipping in America is specifically to show appreciation for excellent service as opposed to helping someone feed their families at the end of the night.

I see menu prices have increased basically everywhere, with lots of notes claiming it is because of food/supplychain disruptions, which may be true. But why can't the same be done to increase wages to something livable?

^

A big part of our culture is tipping for good table service.

But the new trend of paying at the counter then having an employee stand there while you fill in a tip line before anything has been provided at all... It's a complete bastardization of gratuities and tells me the employers are trying to use tips to avoid paying people properly. This is a newish trend that really needs to cease. I actively avoid places with this practice; it's insulting to everyone involved.

I would strongly prefer they just charge a bit more if need be.

Just wait for every place to have the handheld POS systems. The ones where you swipe your card at a table or literally in the server's hands and there is predetermined tip suggestions that are usually scrambled from 35% 15% 20% 10%? All while the server/bartender stares [or pretends not to] at your selection. Talk about an awkward direction we are heading.

BTW, food service has had hiring problems for decades and it just keeps getting worse.

I did a consulting gig for Arby's and Long John Silver's in the '90s and they were having a terrible time nationwide even back then.

Think about the number of fast food places and restaurants and bars that have opened since that time. And there are tons more in the pipeline.

That industry simply needs to pay and treat people better which means we all will be paying a bit more.

I also think the industry needs to do a much better job protecting workers from abusive, irate, entitled customers. I saw a survey that said 70% of women who work as servers/bartenders have been sexually harassed on the job. That is just unacceptable and it is definitely not going to attract workers to the industry.

I think tipping is a major problem for this. It forces an 18 year old server to tolerate some middle age dude harassing her on the job so she doesn't miss out on getting paid (tipped).

I also think the industry needs to do a much better job protecting workers from abusive, irate, entitled customers. I saw a survey that said 70% of women who work as servers/bartenders have been sexually harassed on the job. That is just unacceptable and it is definitely not going to attract workers to the industry.

I think tipping is a major problem for this. It forces an 18 year old server to tolerate some middle age dude harassing her on the job so she doesn't miss out on getting paid (tipped).

Yep, it's a broken system, like much of America's systems. Other countries have figured out how to pay food-service workers decently, we need to go that way. Yes, the population might pay more, but a rising tide.... (or at least one can be hopeful it will do some lifting).

All wages are determined completely by supply and demand.

Now that there is too much supply for food service jobs and not nearly enough demand, that is the market screaming something is seriously out of wack.

Instead of employers sitting in their ivory towers and blaming 'freeloaders', they need to look in the mirror and deliver some long-overdue changes in the jobs they are offering.

FYI, the Devon Energy Center is opening back up to the public on Monday 6/14, 6am to 6pm, so Nebu will probably be ramping up their operations at that time too.

So is NEBU, per one of their managers.

Per Judge Radar on Twitter Nebu and the rest of Devon is opening to the public again on Monday.

https://twitter.com/okcnightcourt/status/1403548061272530944?s=21

Devon Tower and Nebu indeed reopened to the public today.

Such a great facility and good, healthy food options.

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