tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post4281615660166187350..comments2024-03-22T02:37:15.030-05:00Comments on Macro Musings Blog: Much Ado About Nothing: the Labor Mismatch ProblemDavid Beckworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577612979801459194noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post-72943761021206407672012-06-14T04:24:11.576-05:002012-06-14T04:24:11.576-05:00Thanks for your informative reply dwb, which is es...Thanks for your informative reply dwb, which is especially appreciated as I see so many of your comments on the blogs I read. I was surprised to note from the talent shortage survey that Japanese firms find filling jobs difficult.RebelEconomisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13241098878248190971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post-49934713586409003222012-06-10T21:25:20.316-05:002012-06-10T21:25:20.316-05:00@Rebeleconomist
I am glad you answered your own qu...@Rebeleconomist<br />I am glad you answered your own question. These surveys are cyclical, for example if you look at the historical time series for the manpower survey, difficulty finding workers in 2012 is no worse than 2006 or 2007 and only recently (2011) jumped back up to 2006 levels (the timing does not even match the recession period, there was little difficulty reported in 2008, 2009, dwbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post-21805898661336469152012-06-10T03:22:39.202-05:002012-06-10T03:22:39.202-05:00To answer my own question, I took a closer look at...To answer my own question, I took a closer look at the small business survey to find out more details about the questions asked. In fact, there is a question about "cost of labor", which, in the April 2012 survey at least, is an even lesser concern (only 4% of businesses reporting it as their most important problem) than "quality of labor" (6%). This suggests that small RebelEconomisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13241098878248190971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post-1373667863073995972012-06-09T13:41:10.410-05:002012-06-09T13:41:10.410-05:00Hmm, I am not sure about the dismissal of a skills...Hmm, I am not sure about the dismissal of a skills shortage on the basis of survey responses. Probably, a reported shortage of demand takes prices as given, but if there were so many workers with the skills required by the firm that they could pay them less, the firm might be able to reduce its prices and then find demand. I am thinking, for example of industries like basic furniture RebelEconomisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13241098878248190971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post-83865175571364925662012-06-07T19:28:26.591-05:002012-06-07T19:28:26.591-05:00Good post.
I felt like Altig buried the lede. Som...Good post.<br /><br />I felt like Altig buried the lede. Sometimes i feel like macroblog is a tad self congratulatory "look what great business surveys we do here in the sixth district!"<br /><br />BTW, i saw the interview and article in the WSJ about Capelli book. Unfortunately, i can report that its all true. HR policies in corporate America have become phenomenally rigid to the pointdwbnoreply@blogger.com