Fruit and vegetable growers were the hardest hit, which is due mostly to the immigration law changes. Hispanic migrant workers seem to be afraid to show up and it appears that most other Americans don't want to do the work, even at $150 a day. The Seattle Times reported on Oct. 31, 2011, "One after another, at a recent emergency meeting in Wenatchee called by the Governor's Office, fruit growers talked about how hard it's been to find workers as the harvest hits its sweet spot." And, "One orchardist recalled how, of the 149 people referred to him earlier in the season by the state's unemployment office, half showed up on the first day, a quarter on the second day. Now, only five remain."
Georgia growers faced a similar situation in the early summer, as reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Craig Schneider. "The AJC found that some farm owners, especially those who rely on migrant workers, see the July start date of the law coming at them like a wrecking ball. Many of their crops are peaking right now, and they say they are desperate for pickers. Some farms have as few as half the workers they had last year."
I'm hearing such stories directly, too. Last week, the owner of a construction company specializing in remodeling told me he has a hard time finding workers. For example, he recently hired a young woman to work on his crew. The first job was a century-old house whose plaster walls had to be demolished. He told the new hire that the first couple of days would be the worst, with plaster dust everywhere, but after that it was clean work. She quit that afternoon.
Then, just a day later, I heard that so-and-so had taken a night job at a warehouse because her unemployment benefits had run out. I wondered about that – did the job appear just in the nick of time, or had she been holding out for a better job or had she just been enjoying a vacation?
Is it possible that Americans don't want to do hard work? That we are, in fact, unwilling to work hard? Are we really that lazy? How many people drawing unemployment are looking for cushy jobs only?
Just asking, that's all.
It's a topsy-turvy world.
