Sunday’s front-page story, the second part of our five-part series on Maine’s workforce crisis, explores the effect the pandemic had on workers of retirement age – the vast majority of the people who left our state’s workforce since early 2020 were early retirees.

Max Cloutier works under a flatbed he was in the process of bolting to the frame of a truck while working at Messer Truck Equipment in Westbrook recently. It was only his third day on the job, part of the manufacturing company’s focus on training new employees to develop the skills and experience they need to “move up the ranks.”  Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

In the opening installment, reporter Peter McGuire gave us a sense of what the labor shortage feels like on the ground (“Where have all the workers gone? And when will they return?” Sept. 4). Job opening after gaping job opening, employers cannot find the workers they need. That doesn’t look likely to change any time soon. 

McGuire’s reporting last week drew a big and considered response from readers of pressherald.com. Here are some of our favorite comments:

“This ‘crisis’ seems to consist of the fact that, for once, business owners and managers are being forced to pay higher wages. For decades, employers both small and large allowed wages to decline relative to the cost of living; this did not bother them at all as it increased their profits. When they had plenty of available workers, they eagerly exploited them. Now the shoe is on the other foot  … If you paid workers better in the past (which you chose not to do), you would not be whining about labor shortages today.” – Zatoichi

“Companies and corporations are reaping what they sowed. For years they knew they had workers over the barrel for insurance benefits. Bad managers, greed at the top and soul-crushing human resource departments are not attractive to Gen-Z and generations before. The Affordable Care Act changed all that. Now, those who dreamed of working for themselves are no longer tethered by need for insurance from an employer. If a company has a high number of job vacancies, they should look inward before looking outward for employees.” – Realmainer

“I think the real elephant in the room that this article hasn’t really touched on is housing. There is none, at least that’s affordable for the restaurant, retail and hospitality workers. Back in the day, many lived on Munjoy Hill and could walk to work. Most have been displaced for a variety of reasons (primarily their housing being sold off). Even if they do find somewhere they can afford, they need to buy a car, which is another huge expense, and then attempt to find somewhere to park. This is regarding Portland clearly but I see it bleeding out into other areas.” – Atlantic44

“Here in North Yarmouth, our local Republicans are doing everything they can to keep young families from moving here,” read the comment. “Unless you can already afford a home on good acreage, they don’t want you. Why? because public education costs money, and they want to amass wealth. It’s that simple. So we have new building caps and proposed local ordinances for more frontage and bigger setbacks on lots. They want you to use our business, but don’t even think about moving here – according to them.” – Bertie_Russell

“How much more money do CEOs make now than the average employee? It’s outrageous. Money for employees used to be a much bigger piece of the corporate pie. Many more jobs had paid for benefits including health care and retirement. I have never had a job in my 75 years without benefits. The recent union organizing by Starbucks, Amazon and more is a good, healthy way for hardworking people to get what they deserve. A good barista is valuable and so is the Amazon package. I hope the unions become more prolific, and the sooner the better.” – NeedMoreDemocrats

“If you compare the economic recovery and labor availability statistics between the U.K. and United States, they are ahead of us, mostly because working mothers were able to go back to work because of universal childcare. This is just not a handout or an expansion of the welfare state, it makes solid business sense in today’s world. America’s economic expansion after world war two was in many ways driven by the entrance of female workers into the workforce. Now with increasingly demanding jobs, we need universal childcare to help young women return to the work force and or get the economic training to become skilled workers. It’s just economic common sense, and what defines the practical economic philosophy which Moderate Republicans and Democrats share.” – Bolongo1

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