We're hiring!

For a while now (ever since the scamdemic started in Spring 2020) I’ve noticed two trends here in Vermont: skyrocketing housing costs, and understaffed businesses.

Something happened to service businesses that managed to survive lockdowns. Many businesses have reduced hours, car repair shops have very long waiting lists, courts have a five-month backlog of cases, and there are “We’re hiring!” signs everywhere. Are people out sick a lot more now?

As for the housing market, I’ve observed a few things. During the scamdemic, house prices have nearly doubled (e.g., my neighbor sold his house two months ago for 88% more than he bought it for in 2019). During 2020 and 2021, I tagged along with a friend who was doing some house-hunting, and we noticed that sales were dominated by out-of-state buyers. These buyers snapped up properties for more than asking price, and without even visiting the properties or paying for inspections. These properties were typically on the market for less than a week, sometimes selling the same day they were listed on MLS. My friend eventually abandoned the house hunt, since there was no way to compete with the wealthy flatlanders. I attributed this trend to panic buying by frightened city dwellers who mistakenly thought that Vermont was somehow safe from The Dreaded Lurgy (aka The Worst Disease Ever), but I didn’t know for sure.

I asked a few Vermonters if they had any ideas about these trends. Here are some of their responses (paraphrased).

A business owner said the people moving to Vermont now prefer to work remotely and aren’t interested in service jobs. This leaves kids still in school and retired people. The result of this labor shortage is that starting wages have gotten much higher. This person also noted that the competence of the workers he hires has dropped, perhaps due to cognitive challenges. He believes these trends are by design, in part, but also due to changing priorities (i.e., the desire to hide from people and work from home). He also noted an increased tendency for sickness and not showing up for work, perhaps caused by the lockdowns and general hysteria.

Another Vermonter agreed that people moving here now tend to be well-off professionals, not service workers. The people moving out are those service workers, and he speculated that they may be leaving due to high cost of living, or perhaps excessive wokeness in the larger cities. He said that the lockdowns had a great effect on younger people, causing a retreat to homes and screens, and away from dealing with people in real life. He also mentioned that some people he knew who got the mRNA jab lost the ability to do the work they used to be good at, and one was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s after the jab.

Another Vermonter I talked to seemed to think that the past three years trained people to be more dependent on government support, and less on self-support.

I also got a response from a former Vermonter who now lives in the South, and who has noticed some of the same trends, but apparently not quite to the same degree. This person said there were “hiring” signs down there, too, but that the minimum wage was much lower than in Vermont or New York. House prices are very high there, too, often above assessed value. Businesses have reduced hours, unless it’s something big like WalMart.

It would interesting to know if these same trends can be seen in other places, like my former home state of California. I’ll pay closer attention the next time I visit there.