Quick Thoughts on our Labour Shortage

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So where do things stand today? Personally they are not too bad. I am a little manic today – up one minute while down the next. My overall trajectory should be positive shouldn’t it, provided I show up to work every day and keep trying to create and move forward?

That is probably an apt description of the markets too. They seem to be a little up and a little down. They are just a reflection of optimism (or lack thereof) amongst investors, right? This is very oversimplified and probably a function of where I am at in life: 45 years old, a decent head on my shoulders, a solid education. So my prospects should be bad provided I contribute the aforementioned effort. So maybe the market can work the same way (shoulder shrug).

What would the equivalents of my features be? Ther market doesn’t really have an age. But it does. The time horizon of those invested in it will affect how capital is invested. The age of those doing the investing will also affect investment. There are lots of smart people out there, certainly far smarter than me, so smarts shouldn’t be an issue. Or maybe it should? Or it is about temperament. Something to keep in mind. Willingness to work and create is something though.

Right now, unemployment is really low across most economies but they are still having trouble finding people to work. Why is that? There is a guy who lives on my street and took an earlier retirement because of the pandemic. Could that be a reason employment numbers are low but people are still looking for workers? Has the labour supply just shrunk? It may get worse too. A pilot was telling me the other day that United Airlines is expecting ⅓ of its pilots to retire in the not-too-distant future (5 years?).

So is the labor supply down? It is hard to find this number. I will continue to look and report back.

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