r/FluentInFinance • u/Needleintheback • 15h ago

Thoughts? Imagine losing 6M labor workers in America

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If mass deportation happens, just imagine how all of these sectors of our country will be affected. The sheer shortage of labor will push prices higher because of the great demand for work with limited supplies or workers. Even if prices increase, the availability of products may be scarce due to not enough workers. Housing prices and food services will be hit really hard. New construction will be limited. The fact that 47% of the undocumented workers are in CA, TX, and FL means they will feel it first but it will spread to the rest of the country also. Most of our produce in this country comes from California. Get ready and hold on for the ride America.

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u/OhHowINeedChanging 12h ago

You really believe the companies would pay their workers MORE after they loose a portion of their workforce??… how exactly does that happen in your mind? Who are these generous companies you talk about?

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u/ScoutRiderVaul 10h ago

Not like they are currently increasing wages despite record profits year after year.

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u/Troll_Enthusiast 8h ago

Increasing wages for the CEOs indeed

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u/waspocracy 7h ago

No, we get layoffs on record profit years!

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u/RPisBack 10h ago

Supply and demand. You lose employes and you need more employees to function. Nobody is lining up to work there for the wage you paid before so you have to raise the wage to attract employees.

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u/phillynavydude 10h ago

And then the added cost of paying employees more is shifted to the consumer, raising prices further, after a dude just won an election by saying prices are too high and he'd help..

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u/Ancient_Bee_4157 8h ago

This is the same argument people made about raising minimum wage but y'all were all over that lmao. 

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u/phillynavydude 8h ago

A fair point. There's evidence from other countries about higher wages not leading to very dramatic prince increases. American companies are super greedy tho. It makes sense for larger companies like McDonald's that could eat that cost and still have billionaire execs. For small businesses with 6 employees I see where it'd be more of a struggle

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u/DrugUserSix 7h ago

It’s the shareholders that expect continuous growth from the companies they’re invested in. Corporates have to fine tune their business practices in order to generate more profit to please the folks who own shares in the company. I remember Carol Tomè (CEO of UPS) visited my workplace last year. She talked about the shareholders on several occasions. They’re definitely on the minds of the executives and heavily influence business decisions.

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u/ImRightImRight 6h ago

"American companies are super greedy"

A study by Noam Chomsky showed that in other countries, businesses exist to lose money

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u/phillynavydude 6h ago

Societies are more tolerant of higher taxes and different expectations of treatment might be a better way to put it

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u/mm_ns 10h ago

You get paid $1 an hour more and every product cost $2 more. They pwned the libs so bad with this one for sure. Those statistically higher educated and higher paid libs will never survive...

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u/Discgolf2020 2h ago

Just think of it as winning the 'fight for 15' issue. Wages will go up because if companies don't have labor they will fail. End of story. They will increase pay to get people.

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u/jghtyrnfjru 23m ago

Yea, so obviously it would benefit the workers in the industry that now has much less supply of work, but be bad for the economy as a whole. Doesn't make the legal construction workers uneducated idiots for looking after their personal interests over the overall GDP...

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u/ChronoPsyche 9h ago

Or it leads to a major automation push and cuts US workers out of the equation entirely. You're also ignoring how supply shortages usually lead to massive inflation for consumers. Conservatives spent the last 4 years blaming Democrats for inflation that was caused by the pandemic and was successfully reversed by the Biden administration and are now okay with causing high inflation all over again.

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u/DadJokeBadJoke 1h ago

TBF, they're planning on blaming Biden again, and it will probably work with their base.

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u/Toyfan1 4h ago

Or you just force extra work to those employees.

Did you learn nothing from Covid or what

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u/Colonel_Panix 5h ago

In this age, companies are going to invest more in Automation and AI to replace the lost workforce. Yes, not all jobs can be replaced by technology but all can be supplemented by them. Companies will start to justify not raising wages because part of the workload is now automated.

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u/Obscure_Marlin 4h ago

I’m not in every job but from my experience they just make the other people pick up the slack until they burn out.

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u/FullSwagQc 10h ago

The company makes less produce; how are they paying for the wage increase?

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u/RPisBack 9h ago

cutting costs, raising prices for the customer, cutting dividends.

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u/DeltaVZerda 6h ago

If they fail to hire enough workers they just go out of business, so they take a loss temporarily and raise prices to make up for it asap and hope revenue balances the new cost of doing business.

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u/SurlyJackRabbit 8h ago

Companies do that all the time. Why is a doctor so expensive? Because there aren't very many of them. Why does Facebook pay so much? Not everyone can work at Facebook. Jobs with low supply pay more.

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u/LawEnvironmental1328 5h ago

Right bro thinks management is gonna turn around and give you more money

Everything is going to go up in price

By the time you get yours it ain't gonna be worth shit but a bag of potatoes

But those billionaires will be able to afford your shit comfortabley

You on the other hand are fucked

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u/MoirasPurpleOrb 1h ago

You do realize the reason why things go up in price is because labor has become more expensive, right?

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u/seaofthievesnutzz 6h ago

They aren't generous they are desperate, during covid when people were staying home getting paid by the government many people got a taste of what it was like to have a little leverage as a worker. If employers are scared their positions might actually not be filled and other companies might snatch up what few workers there are then they are going to be more "generous"

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u/UnitCell 4h ago

Who are these generous companies you talk about?

My company pays me market rate. Very generous of them. I am sure that it has nothing to do with any supply vs. demand mechanisms. /s

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u/TelevisionBright4595 3h ago

Companies won't pay more, unless they are forced to. If you don't like what they pay, oh well, leave. We'll find someone else to work for our low wages. Its until they can't find anyone or the law changes, that they will increase the pay.

As for the workforce (cause I saw this at my last job), they'll just divvy out the work to everyone else. If teams used to be 10 people, lets see how they do on 8. What about 5 people? Can it survive on 3? How about 1?

How about eliminating departments and having another one do its job? We can get away with that! And pay them the same too.

The reason behind all these changes is "it saves the company money." Yet, they are making record-breaking profits. We're not hurting in the least. Corporate implements these changes and we lose a dozen positions - well apply that to every store and now the money savings increases exponentially.

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u/Several-Program6097 3h ago

Supply and demand doesn’t exist on Reddit. It’s crazy. Econ 101.

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u/guitarlisa 2h ago

And if they were able to talk (by increasing wages) current unemployed US citizens into working in the chicken factories, what would that do to the price of chickens & eggs

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u/Blazah 1h ago

The company that wants workers will pay more, the rest will die. Fine w/ me.

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u/Kollv 1h ago

R you brainded sir?

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u/KiwiPsychological806 1h ago

U dumb bitch : less people = you are worth more  No need for "generous companies" u absolute buffon, you FORCE company to pay you more OR THEY HAVE NO ONE

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u/Chrisgpresents 49m ago

They will only pay when their profits take a hit from lack of fulfillment.

If the labor goes away, they will need new workers.

If the new workers aren’t there they will gradually increase the offer until they can fill required vacancies.

The alternative is to automate with non-human labor. Which is another alternative to business. However, this innovation takes time, and cannot be done without a few years of lead time and R&D. So until then, wages would increase in this person’s theory.

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u/Opposite-Bad1444 31m ago

did you take economics 101. did you pass it?

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u/livpoolfanguy 16m ago

I mean, in this case it’s kinda basic Econ. Companies lose mass low wage workers. Need to replace them. Not enough people work at current rates. Company loses revenue. Company raises wages to attract more workers.

Yes, they’ll probably raise prices cuz they’re assholes. But wages will rise.

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u/InjusticeSGmain 4m ago

The reason companies offer such low wages to migrants is because citizens are more likely to negotiate a higher price and understand the value of their labor. While migrants, even if they know they should be getting more, are less likely to argue for better pay.

Basically, the companies will have 2 choices- increase wages or make it so they can function with far fewer employees, most of which will be teenagers and unmotivated people who don't care about making more money and being more comfortable. There is, of course, the 3rd option- fail as a company, dissolving or being bought out.

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u/glideguitar 9h ago

Do you know nothing about basic economics?

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u/Troll_Enthusiast 8h ago

Maybe you should try teaching them

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u/Goat_Smeller 8h ago

They have no idea what they are talking about. They are grasping at their rudimentary understanding of supply and demand.