As a direct result of the anticipated higher costs from Obamacare, employers already are making defensive moves that are both distorting employment numbers and hurting our standard of living. For now we see these anecdotally, and they may never be measured accurately. The trends:
1. Employers will hire fewer people, if they hire at all.
2. Employers, particularly retail chains, are limiting their workers to fewer than 30 hours, to keep them as parttime, to avoid the new mandates. In some industries, making do with a network of “part-time” people is becoming an order of the day.
3. Employers will be paying in cash and employees will be taking the cash. The former wants to avoid insurance costs and the latter wants to avoid taxes and keep a job. This is risky business for both.
The fact is that people cannot live on 28 hour or less work week, especially if they can only make an average of $10 per hour. The net result of these policies will be depressed living standards and reduced taxes collected by government. However, the unemployment statistics will get better. What will look like job creation will really be job sharing.
