UK employers may be struggling to fill jobs, but this isn’t a new era of worker power | Torsten Bell

Although the labour market is starting to recover, the effects of the pandemic will be felt for a very long time

Commentators have decided that the labour market is booming, reporting that firms are finding it hard to hire people. Some have predicted the dawn of a new era of worker power that will push up wages, while others worry labour shortages will hold our recovery back. The bigger danger, however, is that we’re losing sight of what’s really happening.

While some firms, especially in hospitality, are facing difficulties recruiting, the current situation is not what a rip-roaring jobs market looks like. Those who think it is are repeating a common mistake: treating this as a normal recession rather than a pandemic, with its hugely unequal impact on different sectors and the swift closing down and opening up of economic activities.

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