Short End of the Staff

Near the end of Montana’s COVID shutdown last spring, I wrote a column that in part mentioned the shutdown was killing us economically in the short run. But I also felt much of our economy would feel major consequences in the long term, especially if “short term” wasn’t short. Robots don’t need health care, “affordable housing,” pensions, don’t strike, and work 24/7 without overtime, just a little grease once a week. Bottom line is, Montana’s retail and hospitality sectors need to understand the current labor shortage isn’t a blip, but a broad-based reaction to long-standing structural factors I’ve hinted at above. Employers who don’t understand will get the short end of the staff.