This archive report was first published on 27 June 2021.
As temperatures soared in St. Louis, Justin Johnson was looking for a change. He was working at a pet feed company, earning $14 an hour to shovel piles of mud or oats, but the heat was unbearable. 'The supervisor pushed people too hard,' Mr. Johnson said.
He accepted an offer to begin work the next day at a bottle packaging plant, earning $16.50. This is not an isolated case, as many job seekers are now demanding better wages and working conditions.
Amy Barber Terschluse, the owner of three Express franchises in St. Louis, handles mostly manufacturing, distribution and administrative jobs. She notes that wages, hours, and a short commute are what matter most to job seekers, and few would work for less than $14 an hour.
Ms. Terschluse also highlights the need to educate employers, who have gotten used to low wages and the ability to dictate schedules and other conditions. Some employers have fallen into 'a vicious cycle of replace, replace, replace.'
According to Mary C. Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, good job matches between employers and workers produce the most productivity and engagement. A dynamic labor market is one where the two sides negotiate over compensation, she said.
Ms. Daly believes that if jobless benefits allow people to be a little more choosy because they are not destitute, 'I, as an economist, predict that will be better for job matches and a better economy in the long run.'
