Have you personally benefited from the Great Resignation/low unemployment?

[alarmguy]

I was deemed “essential” during pandemic (engineer). I went to office and job sites throughout. Many workers quit or left over the past year and new hires are hard to find. A lot of guys in their late 50s early 60s simply retired a bit early. The remaining staff is now over worked and burned out and management keeps pushing new work to employees non-stop. We have been busier than ever. Firm has had record profits, yet pay has not moved beyond your typical 2-3% bump. No bonuses, etc. I don’t get how upper management is so blind to the fact that many workers are heading for the exits. Morale is terrible, people are stressed and it’s become someone of a toxic workplace.
...

My wife is sort of in this situation right now. Highly certified in her field, everyone knows her all the way to the "top"
But there has been a "shift" inside top levels of the company, for generations it was very much, ummm... worker centric, they decided to expand overseas, then covid hit, then, then, then, they respect her immensely and the company still sends out surveys to all their employees across the country, CEO made a statement, we "hear you" they learned how unhappy people are. They are inundated with business, many open positions to fill and they are hiring new people at wages many of the long timers have been getting, VERY frustrating.
With that said, she most likely will not be able to replace what she has by switching companies, and now she too will be resigning within years What has happened with her company that she used to be so proud of from the CEO down on how they took care of their employees and TRULY cared about their people, seems like is now lost forever. Sad really.

 

[javacontour]

SS and Medicare has needed fixing for decades but the can keeps getting kicked down the road. More retired people, less people paying in, longer lives and more expensive medical treatments make changes a necessity.

It's going to be a real problem because those two, well SS and all healthcare spending, not just the Medicare program make up about 53% of federal spending in non-pandemic years and is likely rising. While the income stream typically devoted to them is also falling, or at least not rising fast enough to cover the costs.

It will be interesting to see how politicians will politician their way out of this.

 

[alarmguy]

SS and Medicare has needed fixing for decades but the can keeps getting kicked down the road. More retired people, less people paying in, longer lives and more expensive medical treatments make changes a necessity.

Ultimately I would expect the "cap" to be removed or greatly raised on earnings for SS taxes. I mean, we already know, Congress will do what will impact the least amount of voters, doesnt matter if its right or wrong, they wont step up if they are going to lose votes.
The can is always going to get kicked but the system will never go broke. It will just be a matter of higher taxes which is always the result of Social Programs.
A long time ago the proposal to "privatize" Social Security was trashed by forces more powerful than the voters. SO people did try to fix it, wow, what shape many could have been in today if they could have invested their own Social Security like a 401k plan vs interest on bonds. But getting off the OPs subject now

 

[BigJohn]

Had a conversation with a friend that is a very talented guy and has decided to look for a new job. For very legitimate health reasons he is unvaccinated. He told me, the last three job applications mentioned that his vaccination card must be attached to the application. He spoke with and explained his situation to an executive recruiter and the response was.... "You are out of luck." We don't have a single job opening that doesn't require the vaccination.

So there's that.......



.............

 

[KMFDM]

Got an 18% raise, cause nobody wants to work.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I quit in 2018. Management was beating me up and wanting to much. Had no life away from work.
Not collecting SS yet.

 

[BigCahuna]

Here's what I've been thinking. When our economy appears to start settling down , employers and businesses will start looking for ways to increase profits like usual. The first thing they will start doing is getting rid of high dollar employees. Then they will start rehiring employees, at a greatly reduced rate. While keeping their prices the same. or even raising them with some made up excuse like material shortage, or high shipping costs. When done right, nobody complains after a while. The rich gets richer because they wouldn't want to take a cut in revenue, but don't care if workers do. Another old wives tale is that Social Security is going to run out of money. I've heard this for years before I retired, and it just ain't true. Think about how many people work for years and never collect a penny, because they die. I 've known people this has happened to. 40 years on the clock and they never make it to retirement. Social Security keeps that money if there isn't a spouse or disabled child to put a claim in for it. It then gets place back into general funds to be dispersed to people, or on disability. All the money that gets collected gets invested into some fund, so that it will be able to send you money every month. If it wasn't, your account would run out after a few years. The key is to live longer than the years you've paid in. Easier said than done.,,,

 

[mbres2000]

Dallas/Ft. Worth area restaurants and stores are short-handed to the point where many must reduce their hours of operation. And this is with $15/hr wages for unskilled jobs that paid $10/hr (or less) just two years ago. Government financial assistance ran out a long time ago, so I don't know how these folks can stay at home knowing they can make 50% more by coming back! Yes, many at this pay rate are part-timers who live at home, but others are adults who have car and rent payments.

 

[supton]

I know my kid is doing well, 16 with no job experience, so just working weekends at McD’s is getting his feet wet while making good money.

Oops posted too soon.

Me I have grown to like WFH but I do miss the social interaction at work. Something of a mixed bag, pulling extra hours to keep up but now at home so no time lost to commuting and automatic flextime… I know my health has suffered, if nothing else I move around less, less stairs and trips to conference rooms.

 

[mbres2000]

My pay has not increased yet most of the things that I buy are 10-20-50% higher in cost. This crap needs to stop or I need to get off my butt and find a higher paying job.

It's a great time to ask for a raise or to go elsewhere!

 

[javacontour]

Here's what I've been thinking. When our economy appears to start settling down , employers and businesses will start looking for ways to increase profits like usual. The first thing they will start doing is getting rid of high dollar employees. Then they will start rehiring employees, at a greatly reduced rate. While keeping their prices the same. or even raising them with some made up excuse like material shortage, or high shipping costs. When done right, nobody complains after a while. The rich gets richer because they wouldn't want to take a cut in revenue, but don't care if workers do. Another old wives tale is that Social Security is going to run out of money. I've heard this for years before I retired, and it just ain't true. Think about how many people work for years and never collect a penny, because they die. I 've known people this has happened to. 40 years on the clock and they never make it to retirement. Social Security keeps that money if there isn't a spouse or disabled child to put a claim in for it. It then gets place back into general funds to be dispersed to people, or on disability. All the money that gets collected gets invested into some fund, so that it will be able to send you money every month. If it wasn't, your account would run out after a few years. The key is to live longer than the years you've paid in. Easier said than done.,,,

I agree to a point.

I disagree about being invested. It's a government IOU and pretty soon they will run out of those IOUs given the factors previously mentioned.

While they will not run out of money, they will not have enough to continue to pay benefits at the current rates.

Had even SOME of the money been invested for real, and not the accounting fiction used, it might be in a better place.

So while running out of money doesn't mean ZERO, it does appear to mean paying 2/3rs or 3/4s of the current benefit formula within the next generation and probably sooner than later.

 

[BigCahuna]

You have to think about how much money is deposited to SS , every month by every worker in and out of the US. That's alot of $$$. And you have to work full time for at least 10 years, to get monthly payments. Your contribution would run out shortly if it wasn't invested somehow to compensate for the long run. Like I said, rumors of SS running out of money have been around for years, but here I am getting my money back every month. And the government knows how long the average lifespan is, for men and women. I believe that's why thru the years, they have raised the retirement age. In the beginning it was 65 years old to collect. Then it was raised to 66, then 66 1/4, now for a 21 year old , I believe it is 70. So now you have to work longer, and your paying into SS for longer, to compensate for living longer . If everyone payed in the same amount, for the same amount of time, and it wasn't invested in the safest way possible, I could see it going bankrupt. SS was meant to be a supplement for any other pensions or investment you may have. Not as your sole source of income, once you retire. If it wasn't enacted when it was, we would have to depend on the Government to support millions of broke people living in homeless camps. You can put in for early SS retirement, but it will be reduced if you are still working. The more money you make working, the less SS you will receive. If you take it at 62, you will receive that amount upon full retirement. It works out to approx 75%, of what you would get at full retirement age. But if you need that money to get by earlier in life, it's an option. But add that money to what you will receive in SS payments up to the time of your death, that could be significant. Everyone's case is different.,,,

 

[Dave Hess]

Take SS as early as possible and enjoy the money. You don’t want to be in a wheelchair just to get a few hundred dollars more per month.

 

[alarmguy]

Take SS as early as possible and enjoy the money. You don’t want to be in a wheelchair just to get a few hundred dollars more per month.

^^ Exactly ^^
I think more and more people are thinking that way and ever so slightly SOME media bringing it to light but most media still keep telling people how much money they will lose by taking SS early, never pointing out the break even point of retiring early and full retirement age.

 

[Wolf359]

Had a conversation with a friend that is a very talented guy and has decided to look for a new job. For very legitimate health reasons he is unvaccinated. He told me, the last three job applications mentioned that his vaccination card must be attached to the application. He spoke with and explained his situation to an executive recruiter and the response was.... "You are out of luck." We don't have a single job opening that doesn't require the vaccination.
.............

Basically it means that the recruiters don't think it's a very legitimate health reason but then again they're not doctors. I'm not familiar with many myself, but again I'm not a doctor either. It's the golden rule, he who has the gold makes the rules.

 

[Wolf359]

^^ Exactly ^^
I think more and more people are thinking that way and ever so slightly SOME media bringing it to light but most media still keep telling people how much money they will lose by taking SS early, never pointing out the break even point of retiring early and full retirement age.

This gets debated a lot all the time. It basically depends. There's some standard rules of thumbs, if you look at the table, you're better off collecting it later because instead of the tables being neutral, people are living longer on average so you end up making more on average if you take it later. But if you're not average and in poor health, you should take it early. Also in terms of SS going bankrupt, they're projected to run out of money by 2033. But that doesn't mean your benefits go to zero, they'd still have enough money to pay benefits if it was reduced between 19-23%. But that probably won't happen, Congress will probably do something before then. But Congress typically waits til the last minute to do something and kicks the can further down the road.

Also I'm not sure people realize the other benefit of taking it later, it's basically an investment that pays a solid 8% each year that you delay taking it. If you have other retirement funds paying less than that, it's probably better to tap those first and use SS later.

 

[eljefino]

A long time ago the proposal to "privatize" Social Security was trashed by forces more powerful than the voters. SO people did try to fix it, wow, what shape many could have been in today if they could have invested their own Social Security like a 401k plan vs interest on bonds. But getting off the OPs subject now

OMG, what a terrible, terrible idea.

What is money? It's something you exchange for goods and services.

Social Security taxes go out of Worker Joe's Paycheck and go into Retired Ray's benefit check, same week. 15.3% of Worker Joe's work output for the week effectively supports Ray's retirement. Maybe Joe grows food, maybe he's a CNA doing home health care. But on average that percentage of his work output benefits the retired, and the social contract suggests that the next generation will put the same amount of labor forward when the time comes.

So, instead, the government's supposed to invest this money (in what) for Joe and simultaneously sell the investments for Ray? There's no way that could "grow" anything on a global scale. Individually, yeah, if someone beat the inflation rate their work output might be able to hire more help than they themselves did... if labor's in adequate supply. Labor's been cheap for a while and its getting less cheap this year, and people are fretting because they've always been able to spend money to solve all their problems.

 

[4WD]

I’m bumped to the right in salary range - so right when a new range came out - my ranking dropped and so that way I only got a tiny increase - but they can document the increase. And then let it be known we are back giving raises.
Corporate games - Oh, It’s going towards a case a beer if anyone wants to swing by

 

[Dinoburner]

The quit culture is but one facet of the malaise being suffered globally and no not the pandemic. One question here is how do the quitters survive.

 

[Wolf359]

The quit culture is but one facet of the malaise being suffered globally and no not the pandemic. One question here is how do the quitters survive.

You mean those that don't get other jobs? Many probably just retired. Or joined the gig economy.