By Younas Chaudhary
I believe that we urgently need a local and national campaign titled “Get back to work” to cut the slack of so many who are not working. There is a large part of the work force who do not have good work ethic and do not respect or honor working. According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. labor force fell by about half a million since February 2020.
I am seeing people drift, retire early, make excuses to avoid work, and being lazy by sitting at home doing nothing that contributes to fixing our ongoing immense labor shortage. Our attitudes toward work have changed negatively in a post-pandemic world.
As our relationship with work is altered, businesses are experimenting with shorter work weeks, less work hours, workers regularly calling-in sick, and more flexible environments. The ways we want to work and how long we want to work have shifted negatively radically.
I have been fortunate to keep most of our workforce, however, we are facing ongoing shortage of products and lack of experienced service technicians than expected. Project costs have doubled or tripled compared to a couple of years ago because of supply chain issues and shortages, and these additional costs are being passed on to the consumer leading to higher inflation.
I have never lived in an America where you have to wait weeks to get baby formula, weeks to buy an AC system, months to purchase a car, and so on. Projects that were done in days now are taking weeks and months.
The spread of the BA.5 variant this summer caused an increase in COVID-related worker absences, and the pandemic definitely has had a psychological effect on the workforce. I fully agree that people do get sick and there are lots of genuine cases of sickness whereby you feel very tired, sick, with fever, no energy, so on. In such cases, you must stay home, see a doctor, take medicine, take rest and get well which normally takes a few days However, it has also created a cushy comfort zone for some workers that it has impacted their zeal with no desire to work.
Amid all this, certain workers are faking COVID-19, using it as an excuse to stay home for 3 day to a weeklong holiday waiting for their test results and getting well. The point here is that these people know their employer’s fears and concerns of retribution from God and the Government.
Stimulus funds, enhanced food stamp allowances, rent relief, demands for more pay, more benefits, and other measures have created a cushion for an average worker to stay home, go on vacation, and survive longer time periods without fully going to work.
Hello America! Are we becoming more vacation-minded, visiting beaches during workdays, and seeing places in recreational vehicles than getting up in the morning and doing productive work? I feel so…
How do we solve this ongoing crisis? I feel that in our local churches, mosques, temples, and synagogues, religious leaders should emphasize the importance of people going to work. We also really need campaigns at the local and on a national level encouraging the general public to get back to work, so America can remain #1 and be competitive globally. Blessings!
Disclaimer
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not represent the opinions of any entity with which I have been, am now, or will be affiliated. Further, I make no warranty regarding the accuracy or effectiveness of my recommendations, and readers are advised to consult other advisors as well as their own judgments in making business decisions.
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