So let me start out by saying that nothing would make me happier than seeing a continuation of this recent employer/employee power shift in the USA — that is, a shift of power from employers to workers. It is a beautiful and happy trend in much of North America, and especially the US, right now.
People being able to quit a job and quickly going out and finding a new one with better conditions is one of the best things that’s come out of the Covid crisis.
That being said, and putting on my realist business hat on, I can see dangerous signs for 2022; coming changes will be so onerous and deep that I foresee a reversal for these positive gains we have seen for workers.
Why? Well, here are a few things looming in the horizon that do not bode well for workers:
• Numerous sources suggest that inflation in April and May 2022 will be much, much worse that the entire cumulative inflation for all post-pandemic months combined. Consumer prices will be in an uglier place a few months from now
• With so much inflation going on, and the lack of a parallel rise in wages, we will start seeing a complete collapse in demand for various products and services, except for those related to the very bare necessities for survival. Companies that provide non-basic products and services will either downsize drastically or disappear altogether. In short, a lot of people will be let go and be on the street
• With these conditions, there will be a surplus of workers and very few job opportunities for all of them.
So, in summary, the coming recession will essentially wipe out all recent gains for workers and their quality of life.
Hate to be all doom-and-gloom, but the data is out there and it is just a matter of things transpiring in 2022.