Labor Shortage for cruise lines. Article on Reuters

[coast2coastmickey]

My theory is that people who were previously working retail/food service for low wages are now working at Amazon or other warehouses because it pays better and you're not dealing with the general public.

Also I've seen plenty of people retire when stocks ran up before the most recent dip. Who knows...

 

[wfjny]

The great resignation baffles me. I can't help but wonder where everyone is suddenly getting the money to live. Sure the government way overshared, to put it mild, and that might explain shortages for unskilled labor, but those handouts aren't going to keep skilled workers supported in a middle class lifestyle.

Did a lot of people who are married just decide to revert to one income? I don't get how people are making it without jobs otherwise, especially in the midst of historic inflation.

So, back in 2008, my neighbor was laid off. Wall Street, six figure job. She was obviously upset, and concerned about the future.

I saw her a few months later, asked her how they were doing. She looked at me and said "We are great!" I was surprised.

She explained that he husband still had a job. However, with her now being home, she was no longer:
Paying for the commuter railroad
Paying for parking
Paying for the subway
Paying for the "nicer" clothes, and the dry cleaning
Paying for before care at the school
Paying for after care at the school
Paying the "fine" for not volunteering at the school (our kids were both in a private catholic school)
She was cooking more meals, and spending her time shopping wisely

Of course, they extended unemployment to 99 weeks at that point, so that also helped.

So many other little things as well. When you are constantly on the go, you pay for some of the shortcuts that you take.

I know more than a few people that have resigned in the past two years. About half have taken jobs that are paying more. The other half have scaled back. This is mostly the older people, who either gave up work altogether (they were ready to retire), or have taken less stressful jobs. Perhaps working from home. Perhaps something to just pay for the extras they wanted.

And while 401k values have gone down, home prices have gone up. My father-in-law moved in with us after my mother-in-law died. He seems to be flush with money. While I tease him that his wife was spending alot (and she was), lets also remember, he is no longer paying:
A mortgage
Property tax
The gardener
Water
Electric
Garbage Collection
Cable/Internet
Netflix (he uses ours now)

The only bill he really has is his cell phone bill, and we are probably going to move that to my daughter's plan.

 

[wfjny]

I'd also be willing to bet retirement savings have dropped since COVID. Just a hunch. We've kept mine up, but of course my wife is not investing in any kind of 401k right now and we can't really afford for her to until she goes back to work.

So, yeah, I have kept my retirement savings the same, but the value of my retirement has dropped.

On January 1st of this year, I looked at my retirement accounts. I determined all I needed was for them to double. Should be doable in 7 years, which was my goal date. Especially as I am also still contributing.

As of Monday, the value of that account is down 24.939%. I lost all of the gains I had made in the previous two years. I now need my retirement account to increase by 160% instead of just 100%. Probably looking at about 12 years to retire now.

You can only plan so much. Another down day today...