### Labor Force Participation Crisis: Understanding Work Disengagement Trends

Labor force participation is declining as many workers can't afford to accept low-paying jobs or face unreasonable workplace conditions.

### Understanding the Decline in Labor Force Participation: A Complex Issue
* 📉 Labor force participation is nearing generational lows, particularly among men, despite low unemployment rates, indicating a **disconnect in the job market**.
* 🤔 A poll revealed that only **18% of Americans feel engaged at work**, highlighting widespread dissatisfaction among workers.
* 💼 There are two main perspectives on the issue: one blames **lazy young people** for not filling jobs, while the other recognizes that many workers are **unwilling to accept low-paying, demeaning jobs**.
* 💰 A survey shows that the average Boomer believes financial success requires a salary of **just under $100,000**, which is almost **double the median national salary**, pointing to a **generational gap in salary expectations**.
* 🏢 Many jobs that remain unfilled either offer **salaries below market rates** or are in workplaces with **unreasonable demands and poor management**, leading to **high turnover rates**.
* 📊 The decline in labor participation is also influenced by **young workers delaying entry into the job market** due to **increased educational attainment** and **older workers retiring early** after the pandemic.
* 🌍 Geographic disparities exist, with areas like the **Rust Belt experiencing low participation due to economic decline**, while some regions show **much higher rates**, revealing a **complex national trend**.
* 📬 The situation underscores that it's not simply that people don't want to work; many **cannot afford to do so under current economic conditions**, emphasizing the need for a **deeper understanding of the labor market dynamics**.

It's a classic gripe of out-of-touch corporate executives hiring minimum wage workers, or the trust fund baby who is angry that their gym is busy in the middle of the day. Nobody wants to work anymore. Now, I really hate to say this,

but by looking at the numbers, they might have a point. Labor force participation is approaching generational lows, even after the pandemic, while labor force participation amongst men specifically is the lowest it has ever been. These declines have been happening at the same time that unemployment is theoretically

quite low, which if the economists to be believed means it should be easy for people who want to get a job to get a job, right? Well, not quite. And these numbers are confusing at best, or downright misleading at worst. Is people just don't want to go to work? There was

a poll I read a long time ago. Only like 18% of Americans feel engaged when they're at work. I hate my job. The signs are everywhere. Businesses, especially restaurants, need employees and they need them desperately. Less than 20% of the country likes their job.

Okay, so there are two general schools that people fall into when they see that nobody wants to work anymore. The first group are wealthy executives, business owners, or just people who have always worked incredibly hard who don't like that jobs are going unfilled, so they

blame it on lazy young people who would rather sit around all day smoking cones and watching Skibidi toilets. The second school of thought agrees that yes, people don't want to work. They don't want to work demeaning jobs where they won't get

paid enough to support a decent quality of life. It's nice when two groups who are so different can agree on something. So really the only thing left is to work out why people don't want to work now. In most cases, the jobs that nobody wants to

work fall into one of three categories. The first are jobs that are just paying well below market rates given the experience or the location required. Businesses aren't going to be able to fill a full stack senior development role in Silicon Valley for $50,000 a

year, plus equity in their questionable pre-seed startup. But there are still plenty that try. Even entry-level jobs that pay minimum wage in very high cost of living areas are going to be much harder to fill in a city where even finance bros are living in shared housing now. Hot

take alert, but just like there are no shortage of crappy businesses and managers that expect to pay workers nothing for world-class skills and experience, there are lots of workers who expect world-class pay with little or no marketable expertise. One of the most insightful pieces of data on this issue

is this recent survey right here. It asked a selection of Americans what they would consider to be the minimum salary they would need to be financially successful. Now, most of the responses to the numbers have been laughing at the Gen Zs just entering the workforce who think that almost

$600,000 a year is a realistic salary goal because for most people, it just isn't. Unless you are in a few very specific career paths, there are basically no jobs that pay this money and even then, you need an insane amount of luck to get those opportunities. Now,

You can blameless on young people who don't really know how the world works yet or social media that makes it look like every hustle bro is flying private, but it's all distracting from a more interesting data point: the average Boomer thinks financial success is

achieved with a salary of just under $100,000 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is still almost double the median national salary, but in most major cities where people can actually find jobs that pay this much, $100,000 certainly doesn't afford a

lifestyle of financial success. There is simply a massive gap in expectations between the generations looking for their first jobs and the group responsible for giving out most of the jobs, so they both agree that nobody wants to work, just for different reasons. The second type of job that nobody wants

to work are in workplaces that push their staff, demand unreasonable overtime, or have management that are needlessly abusive. This happens in a shocking amount of businesses across the country, and even if you are lucky enough to avoid a boss that thinks shouting is an effective motivation tool, you have

probably worked some overtime out of fear of losing your job or being reprimanded. According to a 2023 workplace survey, the average full-time worker across the country studied is now putting in an average of 9.2 hours of unpaid overtime. These jobs offer, don't

have much trouble finding people to start, but they do struggle with high staff turnover. The third are simply jobs that never actually existed. You probably all know about ghost jobs by now, but even if you really do want to work, there is a good chance that most of your

applications are just going to build out a workforce database, not to actually be considered for employment now. Whatever the specific reason, the results are the same: less people end up working. But aside from settling some beef between entitled Zoomers and some out-of-touch Boomers, this data all reveals something more concerning about work in the current economy.

It's not that people don't want to work anymore, they simply can't afford to. So it's time to learn how money works to find out what's really behind the worst phrase in the workplace.

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be amazed by what you uncover Okay so yeah there are millions of people out there that think nobody wants to work because they couldn't hire someone with 20 years of experience on a programming language that has only been out for 5 years for $15 an hour There

are also people who don't want to work because they think unless they are offered six figures in their first role out of high school it's not worth their time and they would be better off sitting at home working on their NFT dropshipping business Both of these

groups definitely exist in shockingly large numbers but even though it's really fun to make fun of both sides it distracts from the much more important reason why labor force participation is getting worse Well as you might have been able to guess this trend is really

being driven by specific age groups and specific locations If you look at labor force participation and exclude the youngest generation of workers and the oldest generation of workers it's actually approaching all-time highs which really makes sense when you think about it It's common for both men and women to

work full-time these days and for most households it's simply a financial necessity so yeah even if people don't want to work anymore they kind of are stuck doing it anyway The reason labor force participation has fallen off in general though is because the average is

being dragged down by a lot of young workers and old workers The old workers are the easiest to explain as as people started living longer retirement ages were pushed back and more of the population began working in non-physical jobs as a result a larger share of the

population over 55 remained in the workforce This has started to reverse though as self-funded retirement systems and general asset prices have allowed a lot of over 55s to step back from the labor force especially after COVID as a lot of people received severance

packages and decided that an early retirement was better than going back to the office Labor force participation from young people just entering the work workforce either out of high school or college is also pulling down the average just for different reasons More people than ever are getting a college degree

which means they are starting to work later and fewer people are working part-time jobs while they study because for many it's simply not worth it given how much debt they are going to be in when they graduate anyway This might not also be a shock to you but it's getting

really damn hard to find a job out of college A few months ago a post from a professor at Berkeley made the rounds after it spoke about his top students from a top college struggling to find work in technology an industry that was hiring highly intelligent graduates like

This is as fast as they could make them just 24 months ago. Previously, a Berkeley CS graduate, even if not a top student, would receive multiple appealing job offers in terms of work type, location, salary, and employer. However, outstanding students, like those with a 4.0 in their major

GPA, are now contacting me worried because they have zero offers. I suspect this trend is irreversible and likely part of the broader trend impacting almost every employment sector. It's pretty grim stuff coming out of one of the best schools in the country. It might not be the most logical thing to do, but

a common reaction from people who can't land a job with the degree they got, to make them more employable, is to just go get another degree. The rate of Masters and PhD recipients has grown even faster than people getting an undergraduate degree because that's now normal to

stand out in a highly competitive job market, and to be honest, it's a nice way for people to avoid the reality of the job market for another few years. Spending another 2 to 8 years at college to get advanced degrees means people aren't in the labor force, which

pulls down the average to look worse than it really is. So, those are the ages that are perpetuating this dumb myth, but this trend is also highly dependent on location. And to see that, you need to go to the place where apparently the absolute least amount of people want to

work. Yes, the Rust Belt state has the lowest labor force participation in the country, but also some of the most unusual statistical anomalies. The state is quite poor after its major industries like coal mining and manufacturing were either outsourced or simply fell out of widespread use. This

means that a lot of areas have effectively been left behind with no major employment opportunities, meaning that labor force participation is much lower than the national average. But strangely, in some areas the participation rate is much higher than what would be expected. A recent study

conducted by economists from Hamlin University, Cornell, and Virginia Tech found that depending on the county, labor force participation in West Virginia ranges from 42% to 77%, a gap between regions of 35%. While the average across the US states is just 17.7%, less than

half of West Virginia. It's not unusual that cities and working towns will have higher labor force participation than other areas because people often specifically move to these locations just to get work. But this variance was startling and uncovered a bigger national trend: the people that still

had work can't afford not to work, and the people in areas with no work couldn't afford to move to areas with work since it could mean giving up family support networks or simply paying for the cost to relocate, housing. A lot of people who had the financial means

have already moved out of the state, only making this problem worse as they take business opportunities and money away with them. It's a dense read because it's an academic paper, it's for nerds, but if you ever feel compelled to say that nobody wants to work anymore, I

definitely suggest you have a look at it. The report itself also looks at welfare issues specific to West Virginia, but just because the state is experiencing this problem the worst doesn't mean that it's in any way just something hurting them. The trend of a few concentrated

Cities doing extremely well while everywhere else stagnates can make nationwide figures look good, but it also means people who want to work have an option of trying their luck for one of the few jobs left in areas with fewer opportunities or living in an extremely

expensive city to compete with everybody else fighting over a spot in the few places left where people can reliably get ahead. Finance and tech have become one of the last escape ropes for people to make a deal with the devil to get out of these areas with little to no

opportunities. And I am going to be writing an article about how even that career path is becoming impossible in my completely free email newsletter, so sign up if you are interested in reading that and other articles that will never be made into videos here. Thanks for

watching and thanks again to my Heritage for making this video possible. Check them out by scanning this QR code or clicking the link in the description. Now obviously a lot of this could be handled by companies just allowing remote work, so go and watch my recent video on why

companies absolutely will not let that happen for anybody except their CEOs. And make sure to like and subscribe to keep on learning how money works.

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How Money Works

The declining labor force participation rate and its misconceptions.

The common misconception that people don't want to work anymore is challenged by the presenter.

Labor force participation is at generational lows, particularly among men, despite low unemployment rates.

The presenter questions the validity of the claim, suggesting the numbers are misleading.

A poll indicating low job satisfaction among Americans is cited as evidence of the issue.

Two opposing viewpoints on the issue are presented: blaming lazy workers versus acknowledging inadequate compensation and working conditions.

Reasons for low labor force participation: Inadequate compensation and poor working conditions.

Low wages for jobs requiring specific skills and experience in high cost of living areas are highlighted.

A survey on Americans' expectations for financial success reveals a significant generational gap in salary expectations.

Poor working conditions, including unreasonable demands and abusive management, are discussed as deterrents to employment.

The prevalence of unpaid overtime is mentioned as a contributing factor.

The existence of 'ghost jobs' is also mentioned as a factor in the issue.

Impact of age and location on labor force participation.

Excluding the youngest and oldest generations, labor force participation is near all-time highs.

The average is skewed by low participation among young and old workers.

Factors influencing older workers' participation, such as longer lifespans and changes in retirement ages, are discussed.

Reasons for low participation among young workers, including higher education and increased difficulty finding jobs after graduation, are examined.

Anecdotal evidence from a Berkeley professor about graduates struggling to find jobs is presented.

The increasing pursuit of advanced degrees as a way to postpone entry into the competitive job market is highlighted.

Geographic disparities in labor force participation.

West Virginia is cited as an example of a state with significant regional variations in labor force participation.

The state's economic decline and lack of employment opportunities are discussed.

A study revealing a wide range in labor force participation across different counties in West Virginia is mentioned.

The inability of those with jobs to afford not to work and the inability of those without jobs to relocate are highlighted.

The outflow of people with financial means from the state is mentioned as an exacerbating factor.

The presenter emphasizes that the issue is not simply about people not wanting to work, but rather a complex interplay of factors.

The concentration of jobs in specific cities and the challenges faced by those in less prosperous areas are discussed.

The presenter mentions an upcoming article on the challenges in the finance and tech sectors.

The presenter suggests that remote work could help address the issue and refers viewers to another video on the topic.