roccoccoSafredi OP t1_jaawqts wrote on February 28, 2023 at 2:45 AM

Reply to comment by engin__r in Baltimore, the problem isn't a lack of jobs: "We can’t find people to work" - The newest threat to Biden's climate policies. by roccoccoSafredi

Ok. So lets play that out.

Pay those folks more, sure, but then... suddenly the cost of building anything goes up 100%. Because this is the real world and you know that builders aren't to take that out of their margin.

And suddenly, even though those construction workers are making $100k, they still can't afford to buy a house.

engin__r t1_jaax1x9 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 2:47 AM

If we’re going to live in the real world, we should stop indulging the business owners who want everyone to pretend that no one wants to work first. They’re just out to complain. If they want to fix the problem, they have the ability to pay more.

ConcreteThinking t1_jacgeni wrote on February 28, 2023 at 1:09 PM

I know you are probably generalizing/exaggerating, but an increase in the cost of labor wouldn't result in a 100% increase in cost. If wages went up by 25% and labor is around 20% of project cost then the overall increase would be 5%, not 100%.

MotoSlashSix t1_jacos79 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 2:18 PM

This is absolutely not how labor price increases work in the real world.