The reason we have a labor shortage is a demographic one — we have an aging population. More workers are retiring than are being replaced by younger people entering the labor force. While a focus on expanding training and education is necessary, I’m not sure they can address the basic demographic fact that our country simply has too few working-age people.
The obvious solution is to rationalize our immigration policies so we can increase, in a relatively short period of time, the number of people in our labor force. If we fail to do this, we'll be living with labor shortages for several generations or longer.
Agree on all points. The reason for the shortage in EMS, volunteer firemen and host of other areas is the aging population. The program at Clarkson might be considered a Band-Aid, but a much needed Band-Aid. The number of people who want to come to this country is the obvious solution us in the face, yet Congress remains paralyzed.
We definitely need training, education, and incentive programs to target the high-priority labor shortages, including health care and first responders. As we know, these shortages are especially acute in services to our elders, such as long-term care. As our population ages, our need for services to our elders increases, yet the labor supply is decreasing.
Now is the time for our current elected officials like Elise Stefanik, Dan Stec, and Matt Simpson to put aside their partisanship, start representing their constituents, and do the hard but necessary work of governing through consensus and compromise.
In a world where millionaires are commonplace and the YouTube influencers make a fortune, celebrities, CEOs, and athletes make more than they could ever spend, we are left with a world that can't pay the people that work in memory care units or nursing homes a solid living wage. I guess I sound like a socialist but truly wonder why the basic most important components of our society, are under paid, under appreciated and overworked. Of course a lot of this won't be corrected because the rich can afford anything and don't have to worry about these issues. Stefanik is concerned with the wealthy and powerful, not real people. We are so backwards.
Representing the people of the North Country is the last thing that crosses Miss Harvard’s mind. If she concentrated on the issues that plague her constituents, I would be the first to sing her praises. Since Sedition Stefanik’s main focus is self interest doing her job to improve the lives of the people she is supposed to represent is lost. All Elise is doing is auditioning for the audience of one and is crossing her fingers that the diabolical sociopathic narcissist chooses her to be his running mate.
Good points. Hoping this column helps to show that these types of programs should be what people in governement shoiuld talking about and asking: Why aren' there more of them?
They won't even pass a border bill that was bipartisan so I don't think they are even considering helping locals these days. Although I'm sure this is an issue everywhere. Wouldn't it be nice if government officials really did the work of government officials instead of focusing entirely on their careers as politicians and their next election?
I couldn't agree more with your comment.... except the phrase " Miss Harvard's mind ". That puts Harvard in a negative light. My husband, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law are all Harvard grads. Our older daughter holds two degrees from Harvard and our younger daughter was accepted, but chose to attend another school that was better suited to her interests and goals. Harvard is not to blame for Elise's bizarre thinking and actions. She has chosen to hang her hopes and dreams on a truly disgusting, incompetent carnival barker. She is the pitiful clown, promoting his despicable actions, forgetting that she has an obligation to her constituents . So glad my Harvard grad family members do not resemble her in any manner.
My trigger words “Trump Tariffs.” GOP used to remind us that a tariff is a tax. In 2018 Trump instituted tariffs, taxes, of 10%-25% on foreign steel, aluminum, and a variety of electrical components made in China. That is an additional tax on a huge variety of stuff. It raised costs on everything I make in my business. Worse than the direct increase in cost, the tariffs devastated supply chains. Overnight orders placed by wholesalers jumped as much as 25%. Components necessary for manufacturing became scarce or unobtainable, some of our long time suppliers went out of business further constraining our supply chain.
One day I needed to order electrical sockets. Instead of taking 10 minutes on line to order sockets it took me over a hour calling 3 different suppliers to verify their inventory. One of those suppliers, our go-to because they had a warehouse on Long Island and shipping was overnight, is now out of business.
All of this happened before COVID 19. Since then more of our suppliers have gone out of business, a couple of them were 100+ year old corporations.
People who were angry with “the system” and wanted to break it supported Trump, and Bernie for that matter. People like Elon Musk think it’s good to “move fast and break things.” Trump broke things. It lead to inflation and unpredictable availability of common consumer goods.
Biden has been fixing things but is getting the blame from many for things being broken.
The USDA knows all about farm accidents throughout this country. Farm Accidents occur more often than most people realize. And they are brutal. Let me expand. all of these occurred on local farms.
As a child I knew a man who was killed by a bull. That was my first experience hearing of farm accidents. Each of the following I knew personally. A 14-year-old goes through a corn chopper. He died. A 20 something gets his leg caught in an auger. He survived. My son in law's brother was pulled into an auger on the back of a wagon. He survived. A 13-year-old student was buried in silage. He survived. A former student lost her arm to the shoulder. A doctor from Albany Med amputated the arm on site. The father of another student lost his life in a tractor roll over. A local farmer lost three fingers. He survived. A young farmer was speared when a cow ran into a fence that drove a section of that metal fence into him. He died. A2 year old is run over by a tractor. She died. I knew each and every one of these individuals. There may be more. I have to stop. And particularly when times are economically difficult, the accidents usually increase. Because of the nature of farm work, the long hours the isolation and the machinery, places like Washington County depend on quick and qualified responses from emergency services. In addition, farm safety and farm safety courses are crucial.
How could Trump supporters be so blind as to what Trump wants for himself-he wants to be like the dictators he so admires. He is making that clear. Why would they jeopardize their freedoms? They should examine the history of World War II when Hitler came to power.
Fingers crossed that those in paramedic training really DO decide to stay here!
After Trump's " winning words?" last night, how lovely that Stefanik probably still thinks he is terrific, hoping that she still might be the chosen one to be his VP...is she becoming as seemingly crazy as he is?? One wonders. "Whither thou goest, I will go"......she says....down, down, down.
Very insightful! Thank you! Encouraging (mandating?) every SUNY regional school to offer a paramedic curriculum would be a step in the right direction, as well broadening RN and PN programs.
SUNY Adirondack has a great nursing program and I know they would love to expand the program but they have a problem getting instructors, at least that was the problem a few years ago.
Turning out more paramedics is just one part of a big problem for rural emergency care. The other problems involve pay and benefits. Rural communities have in the past been served by volunteers. That does not work anymore due to the extensive training, the 36-hour duty schedules (full time jobs). The cost falls directly on the small communities' tax payers for labor as well as equipment, vehicles, supplies, etc. Any EMS agency transporting fewer than 600 patients a year to the hospital will not break even as Medicare and Medicaid do not begin to cover the costs of the trip and the patient care given. Solutions could be found collaborating with state and Federal resources.
I can’t help but think how much time Elise put into pushing chocolate milk onto school
Lunch menus when there are so many much more urgent needs. She really does very little actual work for our district. And she collects a paycheck six or seven times what a staff member in an Alzheimer’s memory care center would make.
It seems to me Stefanik wants Kamala Harris's job. Stec wants Stefanik's job and Simpson wants Stec's job. None of them want to do Town Hall's with their constituents. Thank goodness for Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, who reaches out to her constituents often and with enthusiasm to keep them well informed and involved.
The USDA funds many rural development programs, so that’s likely how the funding of the paramedic program is based.
The reason we have a labor shortage is a demographic one — we have an aging population. More workers are retiring than are being replaced by younger people entering the labor force. While a focus on expanding training and education is necessary, I’m not sure they can address the basic demographic fact that our country simply has too few working-age people.
The obvious solution is to rationalize our immigration policies so we can increase, in a relatively short period of time, the number of people in our labor force. If we fail to do this, we'll be living with labor shortages for several generations or longer.
Agree on all points. The reason for the shortage in EMS, volunteer firemen and host of other areas is the aging population. The program at Clarkson might be considered a Band-Aid, but a much needed Band-Aid. The number of people who want to come to this country is the obvious solution us in the face, yet Congress remains paralyzed.
We definitely need training, education, and incentive programs to target the high-priority labor shortages, including health care and first responders. As we know, these shortages are especially acute in services to our elders, such as long-term care. As our population ages, our need for services to our elders increases, yet the labor supply is decreasing.
Now is the time for our current elected officials like Elise Stefanik, Dan Stec, and Matt Simpson to put aside their partisanship, start representing their constituents, and do the hard but necessary work of governing through consensus and compromise.
In a world where millionaires are commonplace and the YouTube influencers make a fortune, celebrities, CEOs, and athletes make more than they could ever spend, we are left with a world that can't pay the people that work in memory care units or nursing homes a solid living wage. I guess I sound like a socialist but truly wonder why the basic most important components of our society, are under paid, under appreciated and overworked. Of course a lot of this won't be corrected because the rich can afford anything and don't have to worry about these issues. Stefanik is concerned with the wealthy and powerful, not real people. We are so backwards.
You'd like to think supply and demand will eventually fix the problem, but it is slow going.
Representing the people of the North Country is the last thing that crosses Miss Harvard’s mind. If she concentrated on the issues that plague her constituents, I would be the first to sing her praises. Since Sedition Stefanik’s main focus is self interest doing her job to improve the lives of the people she is supposed to represent is lost. All Elise is doing is auditioning for the audience of one and is crossing her fingers that the diabolical sociopathic narcissist chooses her to be his running mate.
Good points. Hoping this column helps to show that these types of programs should be what people in governement shoiuld talking about and asking: Why aren' there more of them?
They won't even pass a border bill that was bipartisan so I don't think they are even considering helping locals these days. Although I'm sure this is an issue everywhere. Wouldn't it be nice if government officials really did the work of government officials instead of focusing entirely on their careers as politicians and their next election?
And it might get worse.
I couldn't agree more with your comment.... except the phrase " Miss Harvard's mind ". That puts Harvard in a negative light. My husband, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law are all Harvard grads. Our older daughter holds two degrees from Harvard and our younger daughter was accepted, but chose to attend another school that was better suited to her interests and goals. Harvard is not to blame for Elise's bizarre thinking and actions. She has chosen to hang her hopes and dreams on a truly disgusting, incompetent carnival barker. She is the pitiful clown, promoting his despicable actions, forgetting that she has an obligation to her constituents . So glad my Harvard grad family members do not resemble her in any manner.
I was not disparaging Harvard. My point is dubbing her Miss Harvard was to indicate that Sedition Stefanik is smart and knows better .
I suspect the vast majority do not.
My trigger words “Trump Tariffs.” GOP used to remind us that a tariff is a tax. In 2018 Trump instituted tariffs, taxes, of 10%-25% on foreign steel, aluminum, and a variety of electrical components made in China. That is an additional tax on a huge variety of stuff. It raised costs on everything I make in my business. Worse than the direct increase in cost, the tariffs devastated supply chains. Overnight orders placed by wholesalers jumped as much as 25%. Components necessary for manufacturing became scarce or unobtainable, some of our long time suppliers went out of business further constraining our supply chain.
One day I needed to order electrical sockets. Instead of taking 10 minutes on line to order sockets it took me over a hour calling 3 different suppliers to verify their inventory. One of those suppliers, our go-to because they had a warehouse on Long Island and shipping was overnight, is now out of business.
All of this happened before COVID 19. Since then more of our suppliers have gone out of business, a couple of them were 100+ year old corporations.
People who were angry with “the system” and wanted to break it supported Trump, and Bernie for that matter. People like Elon Musk think it’s good to “move fast and break things.” Trump broke things. It lead to inflation and unpredictable availability of common consumer goods.
Biden has been fixing things but is getting the blame from many for things being broken.
I’m really worried for America.
The USDA knows all about farm accidents throughout this country. Farm Accidents occur more often than most people realize. And they are brutal. Let me expand. all of these occurred on local farms.
As a child I knew a man who was killed by a bull. That was my first experience hearing of farm accidents. Each of the following I knew personally. A 14-year-old goes through a corn chopper. He died. A 20 something gets his leg caught in an auger. He survived. My son in law's brother was pulled into an auger on the back of a wagon. He survived. A 13-year-old student was buried in silage. He survived. A former student lost her arm to the shoulder. A doctor from Albany Med amputated the arm on site. The father of another student lost his life in a tractor roll over. A local farmer lost three fingers. He survived. A young farmer was speared when a cow ran into a fence that drove a section of that metal fence into him. He died. A2 year old is run over by a tractor. She died. I knew each and every one of these individuals. There may be more. I have to stop. And particularly when times are economically difficult, the accidents usually increase. Because of the nature of farm work, the long hours the isolation and the machinery, places like Washington County depend on quick and qualified responses from emergency services. In addition, farm safety and farm safety courses are crucial.
I could add two casualties to your list. Upstate needs emergency and general health care workers desperately.
How could Trump supporters be so blind as to what Trump wants for himself-he wants to be like the dictators he so admires. He is making that clear. Why would they jeopardize their freedoms? They should examine the history of World War II when Hitler came to power.
Fingers crossed that those in paramedic training really DO decide to stay here!
After Trump's " winning words?" last night, how lovely that Stefanik probably still thinks he is terrific, hoping that she still might be the chosen one to be his VP...is she becoming as seemingly crazy as he is?? One wonders. "Whither thou goest, I will go"......she says....down, down, down.
Good point about former President Trump’s tariffs. He doesn't understand the economic impact to Americans. Hence, the reason his businesses fail.
Very insightful! Thank you! Encouraging (mandating?) every SUNY regional school to offer a paramedic curriculum would be a step in the right direction, as well broadening RN and PN programs.
SUNY Adirondack has a great nursing program and I know they would love to expand the program but they have a problem getting instructors, at least that was the problem a few years ago.
Someone should tell SUNY Adirondack this.
Compelling points. Thanks for the background information so that my letters to these representatives will be stronger.
Turning out more paramedics is just one part of a big problem for rural emergency care. The other problems involve pay and benefits. Rural communities have in the past been served by volunteers. That does not work anymore due to the extensive training, the 36-hour duty schedules (full time jobs). The cost falls directly on the small communities' tax payers for labor as well as equipment, vehicles, supplies, etc. Any EMS agency transporting fewer than 600 patients a year to the hospital will not break even as Medicare and Medicaid do not begin to cover the costs of the trip and the patient care given. Solutions could be found collaborating with state and Federal resources.
That’s a great idea for Stefanik, Simpson and Stec to work on. Hope they all get the message. Great article!
I can’t help but think how much time Elise put into pushing chocolate milk onto school
Lunch menus when there are so many much more urgent needs. She really does very little actual work for our district. And she collects a paycheck six or seven times what a staff member in an Alzheimer’s memory care center would make.
I wish she would go back to spending more time on her chocolate milk initiative. It's better than what she is working on.
It seems to me Stefanik wants Kamala Harris's job. Stec wants Stefanik's job and Simpson wants Stec's job. None of them want to do Town Hall's with their constituents. Thank goodness for Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, who reaches out to her constituents often and with enthusiasm to keep them well informed and involved.