What’s going on with the American workforce?
Jun 1, 2021

What’s going on with the American workforce?

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Also on the show: President Biden is trying to tackle racial inequality in home appraisals, lumber shortages are making the reclaimed wood market hot, and how tough pandemic decisions are paying off for some restaurants.

Segments From this episode

Is the labor shortage a crisis or an adjustment?

Jun 1, 2021
According to new data, there are now 1.4 workers for each open job. Normally, that ratio is closer to 2.8 workers per vacant position.
Many industries are raising wages and offering bonuses to lure applicants. But will it work?
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Teenagers in search of summer jobs are in luck

Jun 1, 2021
A tight labor market has brought teen employment to its highest level in a decade.
So far, white adolescents have seen the biggest gains in employment this year.
YinYang via Getty Images

To narrow racial wealth gap, Biden plan takes aim at home appraisal inequality

Jun 1, 2021
Homes in most white neighborhoods are worth an average of $250,000 more than those in mostly Black and Latinx neighborhoods.
President Joe Biden laid out policy proposals aimed at narrowing the racial wealth gap during a speech in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Above, Biden speaks with Michelle Brown-Burdex of the Greenwood Cultural Center.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

As lumber prices soar, reclaimed wood gets a second look

Jun 1, 2021
High building costs have changed the equation for vintage materials.
Max Pollock, owner of Brick + Board in Baltimore, salvages old-growth lumber from vacant houses and industrial buildings.
Amy Scott/Marketplace

For restaurants, tough pandemic decisions are starting to pay off

Jun 1, 2021
Restaurants had to make hard choices over the last year to stay alive –– choices that, it turns out, made them more efficient.
Restaurant owners have had  to let go of many employees, but they've also made their production processes speedier and with less employee-customer contact. Which of these changes will stick?
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Music from the episode

Hard Up The Bamboos
Call The Foreign Exchange
The Game Gabriel Garzón-Montano
Waterfalls Tree Theater
Blow Beyoncé
Ride or Die (feat. Foster the People) The Knocks, Foster The People

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer
Maria Hollenhorst Producer II
Sean McHenry Director & Associate Producer II