Why America Isn't Working | The Covid Years

Coming up, why America isn't working part two will break it down for you and then Americans are now demanding $80,000 to start a new job. Is this realistic? Is it irrational? We'll break it down next, let's go. Helping you win in your work life so that you can win in other areas of your life life. This is the Kampoma Show. I'm Ken. Why America isn't working part two? If you missed the first installment, you can check it out on our YouTube channel. Why America isn't working? Today, we're going to look at the COVID years. We had a massive, massive disruption to our working economy due to the pandemic. What happened? Well, millions of people were forced to go home. They were forced to go home because they were laid off. They were furloughed. Millions of professional women we've reported on this had to go home because of a lack of child care. We saw this in the data that professional women had been making so much great progress but because they were working moms and they didn't have the ability to take care of their children. The children weren't in school. They had to go home. And so this created a huge gap. We had millions of workers say, you know what? I've got the financial opportunity to walk away for good. Maybe I was going to retire two or three years from now. But the pandemic pushed the timeline up so they walked away. Only enough, after the first half of 2020 of the pandemic, we began to see the job economy recover in that businesses always adapt, right? Business men and women are great at solving problems. Politicians are not. So what happened was the politicians said, we're shutting you down. Business people, small business, medium-sized businesses, large businesses, wait a second, that's not okay. We have to keep going and so they began to solve problems. And what was astonishing about 2020 is after the artificial shutdown, we saw the economy spit off millions of new jobs. So the numbers were basically about 4 million people walked away from work as a result of COVID. But the economy responded by adding 4 million new jobs. So that created this large gap between the amount of jobs available and the amount of workers who were able to work. But then there were a lot of workers who said, I'm not willing to work. So where do we stand today? Roughly, these numbers are accurate, 9.8 million job openings in the United States right now as we still have a very low unemployment rate, but we only have 5.9 million unemployed workers. Now understand that classification means they actually are saying, I want to work, but I'm not working. So what does that mean? If every unemployed person stepped into a job today, we would still have 4 million, roughly 4 million open jobs. So the pandemic changed the numbers instantly. The labor force participation shrank as I just laid out, laid out. So what happens is, is now you've got millions of people who say, even though I could come back to work, I don't want to come back to work. Why is that? There are two factors. Number one, the pandemic changed our values. It changed the way we looked at work. Why? Because our life all of a sudden was at risk. Now this is in the first couple of weeks, okay? First couple of weeks, and again, this varied from region to region and honestly state by state, okay? So what happened? People were going home because they had to go home. They were told they had to go home. And then when they were at home, they were confronted by two stark factors. Number one, could I lose my life? I remember turning on cable news during the pandemic and we saw that there was a death toll, graphic, it was unbelievable. Now where you were on that spectrum, at least in the first couple of weeks, nobody really knew how severe was this. Obviously it was very severe to a lot of people and there were people who lost their life. But the reality was, is early on, this thing was like really scary, crazy, and then we began to see things settle out and now we are where we are and you can arm sure quarterback all you want to. I don't want to get into that. So if you get offended by that, don't get offended. I'm not making a case as to how severe it was, death toll, with the point is early on, it was like, whoa, we were reminded how precious life is. That's what happened first. We realized life is so much more than my job and we are around all those people that mattered so very much to us and so it really shifted our values abruptly. The second thing that happened, it changed our rhythm of work. Now, there are millions of people at that time that were working remote but not to the levels that where everybody went home. So watch this. My values get shifted and reassessed pretty abruptly and then my work rhythm gets shifted rather abruptly. So here's what we know about most people, they don't like change. But when change is forced on you and you have no say in it, it's a pretty compelling way to change your behavior. So what happened was as they said, oh, what really matters to me? What matters to me? Do you have a lot of good people who said, you know what? I've saved, I've been disciplined, I've decided to retire and I'm not coming back. They're still able, maybe they're in their mid to late fifties, early sixties. And they said, you know, I'm going to change my lifestyle. Maybe they sold a home at the height of the real estate boom over the last couple of years. They cashed out, they downsized, they didn't just downsize the house, the downsides that are life. And they can do it. And they said, this is what's important to me now. Hey, listen, a lot of people said, I like working at home. And so in order to do that, I want to work for myself and what do they do? They started a company and thus, thus they spun off new jobs. And so that created a whole, okay? So you've got all of this happening all because of a massive shift in values. What I value in my life, how I want to live my life and how I work is a massive part of how I live my life. So what needs to change to make America work like it used to do? We have got to see companies entice workers back to the office specifically, older workers who may have retired, but they'd like to have a little more cushion now that inflation has hit them hard. Bring them back. They're great locker room men and women, they got experience, they got character. They got to work ethic. I think we have to get serious about younger workers. I think we have to get very serious about companies that don't require a college degree going, hey, you want to come right out of high school and you want to work and make good money and fast forward your track to be in a millionaire. That's a compelling narrative it needs to be shared. But you're only going to do that if you connect to people's values and you say, you know what? If you come work for us, you are going to be valued in this way. Yes we'll pay you well, yes we'll give you great benefits, but we're going to make your life better as a result of coming to work for us. We're going to value you. We're going to help you accomplish more dreams. This is the new conversation that has to happen in the workplace. If not, America is going to continue to not work the way it used to. All right, if you are feeling the squeeze of inflation, this is for you and I don't know, I don't know if there's anybody who is it. Now I will say candidly, and boy, when I say this and they post this stuff on social media, man, the snowflakes come at me, man, they're like, ah, you're this, you're super rich. First of all, I'm not, but they just assume because I have common sense and I say things like I'm about to say and reveal things that I'm about to reveal that I'm in some ivory tower, cracks me up. We have a post that's kind of going nuts on Instagram right now. If you want to follow me at Ken Coleman and they pulled it from the show and it was a segment like this where I basically said that we are seeing in the data that there are more and more people who are making $100,000 or more who are living paycheck to paycheck. And I think that's absurd. Now just saying that's going to get a bunch of people mad at me. Oh, you don't know when it's like to live in Southern California. Yeah, you know, I do because I talk to people live there. I know it's really expensive out there. But like, move, okay. And so in this clip, I said, if you are living paycheck to paycheck and you make $100,000, you don't have an inflation problem. You have a spending problem and people like, this guy is so out of touch. He has no idea how much childcare costs. Yeah, yeah, I do because I have three teenagers. They're more expensive now than they were when I put them in daycare. Shut up. So I'm going to double down. If you're making $100,000 and you are living paycheck to paycheck, you have a spending problem because you were trying to do too much life. So throw every excuse in the book at me, folks. I'm going to smack it back like I do on the pickleball court. Hey, you see what I did there? I'm starting to get pretty good at this pickleball thing. I'm just going to smack it back like you're throwing at me and I'm going to smack it back. If your cost of living is too high, move. If daycare is too high, go find you a grandma who would love to have a little extra spending money like my wife and I did and hire her. And she was a fraction of what daycare would have cost us or after school care. Go ahead, throw it at me. I'm coming at you with common sense. You have too much expenditures. I literally had one person on Instagram comment and say, well, you have no idea what it's like. I have only student loans. Yeah. That's a spending problem. You took out a loan for a degree you can't use. You can't afford. I'm sorry. I understand inflation is real. I do. I get it. It's not getting better right now and guess what's coming? Jerome Powell today and I'll talk about it later forecasted where he's at and what the fed things are going to do. So I'll get to that later. But let's get to this because of inflation. People aren't cutting their expenses because credit card debts at an all time. Why? Wait a second. So are salaries and wages. So the problem with us humans is our propensity. That's a fancy word for our nature is that when we get more money, we spend more money. And then we gripe about it. So now listen to this. This is from USA today in my hands new data. The lowest wage salary according to the New York Federal Reserve just did a new study. The lowest annual wage respondents would be willing to accept for a new job rose again this time reaching just under $79,000. Now July of last year, the number was 72,000 and in July of 2019, because they threw out the pandemic year, the number was 62,000. So this is where people are saying, I'm not going to take a new job unless I make this. So the gap between the 78,000 a year people want to get paid to switch jobs and the average of what people are making because this is the average salary over the last four months in the United States. $79,475. So employees are doing better than a year ago when the average was $60,700. So you got about a $9,000 positive bump for American workers, but inflation is higher. So let me do economics 101 again, because your parents didn't teach you and your teacher didn't teach you. So I'm going to teach you in the snowflakes, especially the ones that are progressive and liberal come after me every time I do basic economics. I don't know how you get offended with this, but I'm going to do my best to say it in a way that won't offend you. And I'm not saying this is right or wrong, I'm saying this is how capitalism works. When companies have to pay employees more to get them or keep them, guess what companies usually do. Stay with me. I'm going to talk really slow. They pass on the expense of the employee because they have to spend more to pay them. And so they pack it onto your combo meal. They pack it onto your loofah at Target. They pack it onto your whatever. That's what companies do. I know those evil capitalist pigs. Okay. Is that really true? It's possible. Here's the comment I always get. Yeah, well, the CEO of that company made $50 million last year. Okay, sure. So let's say he cuts his salary, which is fine. Be a nice gesture, be great PR. He's got plenty of money. I'm okay. Sure. If that's what he wants to do, but there's no law saying he has to do it. And just because you're offended, doesn't mean he has to do it, but let's say he doesn't. It doesn't matter. If a company over a natural progression of inflation, even in healthy inflation, keeps raising salaries and they will have to do so. They have to pass it on. If they don't pass it onto the customer and they keep eating it, eating it, eating it, I got news for you. Your favorite loofah or your favorite fast food restaurant will go out of business. This is called economics 101. Now now that we've covered that. So what's happening right now? We're in what economists call a wage price spiral. What does that mean? It means that we're in a period of higher wages because we've got this gap in the workforce. So people are paying more. But that means companies are passing it on to the customer, which is you who are making a higher salary, but your groceries are more. And so then people go, I need to make more to be able to cover bread and gas. And so it begins to do this. What is it doing? It's going to start cooling the job market. So if you want to move and move for good reasons, now is the time to do it. Are we still in a very good job market? Absolutely. We are. But it will start to cool. Jerome Powell said again, there needs to be more pain in this economy. The share of job seekers in the previous four weeks declined to 19.4% from 24.7% a year ago. And the likelihood of switching jobs fell to 10.6% of the America workforce from 11. That's just slightly now. Expectations of being offered a new job declined as well. So the American worker starting to go, I don't know where this economy is going. Are we going to get an intercession? Are we not? We're going into an election year. Man, this was a merry-go-round everybody was doing the great resignation people were leaving. They were job hopping. They were making more money. Now people are going, I don't know. I don't know. Unemployment numbers will not stay where they are. Our economy and any capitalistic economy is going to go through rhythms and cycles. And right now, it's a really good job market. How long is it going to stay that way? I don't know. But I'm going to tell you this, how does this apply to all of us? If you're making more money, I got a news flash for you. Maybe you should save more money. Maybe you should adjust your lifestyle by cutting while you're making more. But here's what I know, when you have margin, your inflation proof. This is the Ken Coleman Show. You were created a fill a unique role in your work. I mean, you're needed and you need to do it. And I'm here to help you do that. Welcome back to the Ken Coleman Show. If you're enjoying the show via YouTube, would you help us grow by liking the videos, subscribing to the channel and sharing the videos as well. Also via your favorite podcast app, I would love for you to give us a follow, a five-star review, and share as well. Also, how do you like free cash? Do you like the free cash? I like free cash. And only slightly below liking free cash, do I like to give Dave Ramsey's money away and it's that time of year in August, we always give away Dave's cash. And I have the spiritual gift, by the way, of giving away Dave's money. I don't know how I was born with it and it's, I don't know. I'm having fun, but you'll have fun if you make some money by just simply entering to win free money. We have one of our 500 weekly prizes and then we have a $3,000 grand prize in our Ramsey cash giveaway. Go to RamseySolutions.com slash giveaway and you can enter once a day, RamseySolutions.com slash giveaway. Again, once a week we're giving away $500 and then we're going to give a $3,000 away to one very lucky winner. No purchase necessary, but you've got to be 18 or older to win. Okay. Last time, let's get to a coaching session here. Taylor's joining us now in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Taylor, you're on the Ken Coleman show. Hi, Ken. Thank you so much for taking my call. You bet, Taylor. What's up? So I'm a housing locator. I work for a nonprofit organization to assist families and individuals with barriers to obtain housing. I make about $40,000 a year and I want to know if it will be a good idea to branch out and start my own services to make more income in the same field and if so, how do I do that? Well, it sounds like a fantastic idea. You like the work, yes? Yes. It's very missional to you, yes? Very. Great. Great. Great. Great. And you want to make more money. You need to make more money. So I think it's a great idea on paper as to, is it a good idea? Yes. Well, the second part of your question is, how do we do it the right way? Yes. Okay. So one thing we want to make sure of is that we don't poach your current organization's clients. That's just not ethnically right. That's my position. I assume you agree with me. Yes. Right. Okay. And so, but you know this industry and you know where those people are, yes, and there's more of them than your organization is able to serve. Is that true? That is very true, Ken. Great. So, start with, do we have a large enough pool of potential customers? And is that answer absolutely yes? Yes. And you know how to find them. Yes, I do. Great. So, the challenge here then becomes, what's the best way to get the word out to them to let them know that I can help them? And these are new clients. So you're not poaching. But you are competing. Make no mistake about it. You'll be competing with your current organization. Correct? Yes. You're breaking up. Yes. That is correct. Okay. So, the big questions I have are one, do I have the knowledge and ability to get the word out to these people? Is that going to cost? How long of a conversion process is there? Do you understand the pricing model that you would then charge for your services? And then financially, how do you bridge the gap from walking away from your current organization into this without an interruption or a massive cut? Those are the questions that pop up right away. Makes sense? Makes sense. Yes. So, knowledge and skill set or knowledge and ability to be able to get the word out. Do you have it? Or can go get it? Yes. I do have the knowledge and skill set to get the word out. Great. You got the pricing and all that figured out? I don't have the pricing. What is the model, by the way? I am actually curious. I don't know this industry. In fact, it's first time I've ever talked to anybody who does this, which is fun for me. How does the non-profit, is it all donations? No. Oh, boy. For grant funded as well, so we don't charge for, you know, our services here. Okay. So that sounds like a massive problem to me. Am I right? Yes. These people don't have any money that you're trying to help. That's right. That's right. That's right. So that means you have to start a, well, you have to start a non-profit or it's a donor model, same deal. You literally have to start the exact same thing. That takes time. Do you have the donor base? I don't. I guess my target audience, I was thinking what would be to charge the people who need the assistance to housing. Do they have it? I know some people would have it, but the clients that we serve don't have the money, but my audience will be the people that do have the money. So you feel like there's enough people out there that you can help get into housing, but have enough money to pay you for their service. Yes. Okay. I would try that on the side first. Okay. I would not leave this current situation for that because you got to prove that. Okay. And before you even prove it, you better come up with a pricing model. Do you have any idea what you would charge for that? No. I think I would have to do my research. Got to. Okay. You've got to. And then you also have to be honest with yourself to say, why would I get someone to pay me to help them find low income housing when they can go to non-profit, they can go to government, like what's in it to where they would go, that you have to provide in a value where they'd go, I'm struggling financially. But I'm going to pay you X amount of dollars to help me get into a house. When I've got government agencies, I've got other nonprofits, the one you're currently with, to do that and I don't have to pay them. I think that's a real hurdle you're going to have to figure out how to get over if you can do it. Great. But I want to be honest with you. The last thing I want you to do is call me up for advice and I give you this kumbai answer. I think this has got a lot of potential challenges to where this may not be worth your effort to try to do this as a full-time gig certainly because you let off the question by saying, can I want to make more money? And this has got quite a ramp up period. How long is that non-profit you're working for been in operation? I want to say over 20 to 25 years. Yeah. I mean, I'm going to tell you something. I've got a lot of friends that have started non-profits. It is really difficult because it's especially when you're starting out half your brain and I'm being conservative is focused on, I got to raise money, I got to get grants and then I'm being conservative here. The other half is focusing on the people you want to help and you're trying to get them to pay you. So here's the deal. I want to encourage you to do the research, talk to people. See if you can help one family and sit down with them and go, here's the deal. I'll help you get housing and this, this, this, this and this and it's going to cost you this and see if they bite. They don't bite, say, well, you shoot me straight to me while you didn't bite. That's really smart right now just to try this with zero risk and I want to think forward just a minute because if this were to be a thing that you try and you go, it's not viable doing it on a paid model or they are paying you for your service. I wonder, and this is what you have to research where you could pivot to where you're doing similar work, but, but maybe not in a situation where you're capped financially. That would be the big question. Okay, I want to serve people, but if you're trying to serve low income people, I just got news for you. Never met anybody who has a whole lot of financial growth opportunity serving low income people. Well, it really wouldn't be targeted toward low income people because we have people who currently, for example, who have high income, but they have an eviction. Okay. Taylor, I got to go. I guess a break, but I think you know what you need to do, and I'm rooting for you. Thanks for listening to The Ken Colman Show. For more, you can find the show on demand wherever you listen to podcasts and watch the show on YouTube. You can also find Ken across all social media by following at Ken Colman.