Yep I agree that a large contributing factor in all of this has to do with location.
The shortage of skilled labor is another instance where we need to ask why supply is not meeting demand. I think in the case of the supply of skilled construction workers it is not difficult to come up with a plausible explanation that doesn't require any malicious actors.
Anyway, I'm not really trying to make a political point or give everybody my own pet theories as to how this happened. I'm mostly just trying to make the point that the way this issue is generally discussed in the media is economically illiterate at a pretty fundamental level.The observation in the media that supply is not meeting demand is worthless on account of that not being a meaningful statement.
Wages for construction workers have not kept up with inflation, much like other fields. Unless you're a Master - tier specialist in your field, you will probably be making at best $15/hr to $25/hr with minimal (if any) benefits.
There's simply few reasons to enter the field and risk long term health issues when you can make the same amount, or better doing paperwork in an office.
we also had a whole new category of job (gig economy) and a massive increase in a related category (delivery) show up for unskilled work. In general there seems to be a labor mismatch now, and existing regulations certainly don't help (e.g. you need to not have smoked weed in the last six months to hold a CDL to drive a truck around, and these days that probably eliminates a good chunk of that skill segment)
The shortage of skilled labor is another instance where we need to ask why supply is not meeting demand. I think in the case of the supply of skilled construction workers it is not difficult to come up with a plausible explanation that doesn't require any malicious actors.
Anyway, I'm not really trying to make a political point or give everybody my own pet theories as to how this happened. I'm mostly just trying to make the point that the way this issue is generally discussed in the media is economically illiterate at a pretty fundamental level.The observation in the media that supply is not meeting demand is worthless on account of that not being a meaningful statement.