Question

1. According to the manager of Wyndham Miami Beach Resort “[the problem] doesn't have to do with pay.'' Use simple supply and demand analysis to describe such situation.

Explain the intuition behind the labor supply curve

USE THE FOLLOWING READING

Finding qualified workers to staff the Wyndham Miami Beach Resort is becoming a problem these days, even though most of the employees are paid union rates.

''It doesn't have to do with pay,'' said Michael Spamer, the hotel's general manager. ``Unemployment is low, so it's hard to find employees.''

As South Florida and the state continue to experience historically low unemployment and record job growth, service industry employers, especially in leisure and hospitality, are having a difficult time finding workers.

Some hotels, like the Wyndham, will use foreign hospitality students to fill positions on a short-term basis. Other companies are dangling benefit packages to lure workers.

As jobs throughout the labor market become harder and harder to fill, employers inevitably have raised wages. That makes it even more of a crunch for work at the lower end of the pay scale -- where the bulk of the hospitality and service jobs are.

PAYROLL LOGIC

If you can take a higher paying job, there's no reason to stay in a job where you make less, Wachovia Corp. senior economist Mark Vitner pointed out. The problem is exacerbated by South Florida's high housing costs.

''With rents and housing prices rising dramatically, it's awfully tough for someone with a lower paying job to find a place to live,'' he said, adding those prices discourage lower-paid hospitality workers from moving to South Florida. ``We're stuck trying to hire folks from the existing population, and it's pretty tight right now.''

Miami-Dade's unemployment rate last month was 3.6 percent, compared to 3.5 percent in January and 4.7 percent in February 2005, according to preliminary data released by the state Agency for Workforce Innovation on Thursday.

Broward's unemployment rate continued to decline, at 3 percent, compared to 3.1 percent in January and 4.2 percent in February last year. Monroe's rate was even lower -- 2.6 percent, down from 2.7 percent in January and and 3.2 percent a year ago.

Oceanside Resorts President Claire Callen said she's having a hard time finding qualified workers for the company's hotels, which include the Holiday Inn near Miami International Airport and the Fairwind Hotel and Holiday Inn on South Beach.

''It's gotten more competitive, for sure,'' she said.

Callen said it's even more difficult for her to staff the Holiday Inn near the airport compared to the Beach hotels, which pay on average about 10 percent more. The company offers free parking and meals, 401(k) plans and tuition reimbursement up to $1,000 a year for all its full-time workers.

Over the last year, Miami-Dade and Broward counties have added 5,600 jobs in leisure and hospitality, one of South Florida's biggest sectors. These jobs include work at hotels, restaurants, gambling establishments and amusement parks, and they make up about 10 percent of the region's economy.

BOOMING BROWARD

While the hospitality and leisure industry is bigger in Miami-Dade, growth over the past year in Broward was much faster than in Miami-Dade County: 2,900 jobs added, or 3.7 percent, compared to 2,700 jobs in Miami, or 2.7 percent. The report did not break out job growth in Monroe County.

Broward's employment agency, Workforce One, is seeing most of its leisure and hospitality job postings in restaurant and food service work -- rather than hotel accommodations -- which includes companies like Arby's and Dunkin' Donuts needing dozens of workers, spokeswoman Kelly Allen said.

Restaurateur Mario Padrino is feeling it. He owns Padrino's Cuban Cuisine, with locations in Hallandale Beach, Plantation and Boca Raton. The company hopes to open another restaurant in Oakland Park within a few weeks, but the timing will depend on how long it takes to hire workers.

''Recently, what's happening, competition for employees is greater,'' he said, adding that even though turnover hasn't been a problem at his existing restaurants, he's expecting a challenge staffing the new restaurant. For example, he's looking for dishwashers, servers and cooks, who generally make between $8 and $12 an hour.

''I think folks are more than usual jumping from one place to another because they're getting higher wages at another place. That was never an issue,'' he said.

Answer 1

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