Jun 1, 2021

What’s going on with the American workforce?

A "Help Wanted" sign is posted beside coronavirus safety guidelines at a restaurant in Los Angeles on May 28. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

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?

by Kimberly Adams

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

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Workplace Culture

Teenagers in search of summer jobs are in luck

by Meghan McCarty Carino

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

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Race and Economy

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

by Samantha Fields

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

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As lumber prices soar, reclaimed wood gets a second look

by Amy Scott

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

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For restaurants, tough pandemic decisions are starting to pay off

by Justin Ho

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

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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

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