David Safier by David Safier Congrats to our own Curtis Acosta, a former TUSD teacher in the Mexican American Studies program who often served as its public spokesperson. He was included in HuppPo's 10 Latinos In Politics To Keep An Eye On. The list is nonpartisan and filled with such well known names as brothers Joaquin and … Read more
by David Safier He didn't indulge in Harvard debating tactics or subtle arguments. Instead, Obama gave Democrats direct language to use about the Republicans' potential government shutdown and refusal to raise the debt limit. He said it in one statement, but here it is, piece by piece. "Do not shut down the government." "Do not … Read more
by David Safier Let the games begin! continue! You don't have to go to Congress to see Republicans tearing each other apart. It's happening in Education Land here in Arizona and across the country. Lately, the blog Seeing Red AZ has been writing about education almost as much as I do, mainly about the Common … Read more
by David Safier On "Education: The Rest of the Story," the public access show I do with Ann-Eve Pedersen, I discuss the average 3-5 year tenure of teachers at charter schools. The typical story is, they begin teaching at the charters straight out of college, the schools work them hard, chew them up and spit … Read more
by David Safier
A story in today's Star could be from an intro Econ textbook. West Coast farmers can't find enough workers to pick their crops. The labor supply is down, so demand is up, which drives up the price of labor. Farmers are paying workers more than minimum wage, they're buying meals for workers, paying for transportation, even paying bonuses to people who stay for the season, since other farmers are trying to lure workers away. That's the way supply and demand is supposed to work.
Oh, and the farmers are supporting immigration reform, hoping that will increase the supply of workers.
So my question is, why isn't supply and demand working in skilled labor areas? I'm more than a little out of my depth here, diving into economics, but here's how it looks to me.
Tech firms are saying they can't find enough trained workers to fill all the job openings, and we're hearing the same from prospective employers in other fields that demand specific skills. In other words, they're complaining that supply is low and demand is high. So why aren't wages going up in those areas to meet the demand? Why aren't businesses paying relocation expenses so people who have the right skills in the wrong location are given an added incentive to move where the jobs are? Why aren't businesses offering education and training to people who may not be a perfect fit for a job but have the right educational background and basic skills sets — and paying them during the training period? How about retraining older workers who have been displaced because their skills are no longer appropriate for today's job market, something that happens regularly in the fast changing world of high tech. Train a 45-55 year old worker to perform the tasks needed in today's workforce, and a business will likely have a highly motivated, very loyal worker who will stick around for the next 5-10 years, at least.