Letters to the editor: Feb. 28, 2024 (print version)

Published 4:00 am Wednesday, February 28, 2024

What’s driving the labor shortage?

With the looming election this year it seems that everyone who wants a job has a choice of many options. In fact, many firms are having difficulty finding workers, even though there are crowds of potential workers gathered at our borders.

The unemployment rate in 2017 was 4.8%. In 2019, it was 3.6%. In 2023, it was 3.7%.

The construction industry averaged more than 390,000 job openings per month in 2022, the highest level on record, and the industry unemployment rate of 4.6% in 2022 was the second lowest on record, higher than only the 4.5% unemployment rate observed in 2019. National payroll construction employment was 231,000 higher in December 2022 than in December 2021.

The agricultural workforce is shrinking and has been for some time. The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates there are roughly 2.4 million farm jobs that need to be filled annually, but there has been a drastic decline in workers each year.

Most hospitals say they have had to reduce capacity due to a lack of staff, a new Kaufman Hall report finds. Shortages figure to be a long-term issue. Hospitals and health systems continue to face staffing challenges, and many say it’s a factor in their inability to run at full capacity.

What is causing the labor shortage? A labor shortage occurs when demand for workers exceeds supply, often leading to unfilled jobs, delayed services and potentially higher wages. With 3 million more jobs than people, a tight labor market has put employers in a difficult position to fill vacant jobs and conduct operations as planned.

This, while the MAGA Republicans are refusing admittance to immigrants seeking work in the United States. Republicans have gone to the extreme of building a huge fence and separating parents (who were deported) from their children in an effort to prevent entry; many of these separated families still have not been reunited, four-plus years after separation.

Immigration was capped at 675,000 in 1990 for immigrants and refugees. Executive orders subsequently have only increased border security. Donald Trump claims immigration would be poisoning the nation’s blood? He may have borrowed a prior dictator’s playbook; it seems he values specific immigrants more than others.

There are many refugees qualified to fill available openings. How about filling some openings in the IRS?

A “vermin” voter and proud of it!

David Ebbert

Enterprise

We need forward-thinking leadership

I would like to add a perspective to the Senate race in our area. We have some great options for the opening that Mr. Bill Hansell is vacating. I truly appreciate the outstanding job he has done for us, and his shoes will be hard to fill.

We need a forward-thinking person looking from 10,000 feet that will include all of us, not just the populated areas. We do not need another good old boy who only helps with what and who they know, or who doesn’t look to build relationships across the state that bring opportunities for our area.

Our growth is moving at lightning speed as more technology and manufacturing industries are looking for opportunities here. We are not just an agricultural area anymore. Although we are rich in it and have a long history with it, agriculture doesn’t solely define us anymore.

I hope that our citizens understand that change is here and we need someone that will help be our voice.

Daren Dufloth

Umatilla

One word says it all

To those of you who are considering voting for Trump in our upcoming 2024 election, I have one word for you to think hard about: Russia.

Connie Macomber

Pendleton

Don’t take the military for granted

One purpose of the U.S. military, for those who have forgotten or rejected military service, is to provide many benefits which a lot of people take for granted.

Military ships protect cargo ships to safely reach their destinations. The military allows American citizens to peacefully carry on their work without foreign intervention. It allows U.S. citizens to speak their minds without retaliation, unlike other countries that suppress their citizens from speaking their minds and protesting their leaders’ decisions.

We are a free people in this country, thanks to the 1% of the U.S. population on active duty defending our rights.

Military people who come home are granted veterans’ benefits to take care of them. Sure, it’s taxpayers’ money, but that is the price of your continued freedom and to ensure that democracy continues.

Be thankful that the Veterans Administration is taking care of your brothers and sisters. Otherwise, veterans returning to their hometowns might need to bleed their families and businesses of their hard-earned money to pay for the enormous bills for the medical care veterans so desperately need.

Mike Brink

Gresham