Where Are The Workers???

A friend of mine whose business
Requires a crew of laborers
To harvest turf for people's lawns
Constantly has difficulty
Finding anybody that wants to work.
The work is difficult and dirty
And the hours are often long
Especially in the spring and fall.
He said he gets quite frustrated
With all the folks complaining
About the immigration issue
Because he needs some help.
He tried to work college students
Because he figured they were
Always needing money but
They often left after only half a day
And never even came back
For their paycheck. They all
Wanted easy jobs that didn't
Take long hours and so they
Left without even saying goodbye.
They're spoiled, he said, and
Didn't even have the decency
To say, hey, this is harder than I thought,
I think I'll go find something else.
My friend said that with the
Unemployment rate as low as it is
Our country is basically at
Full employment, so why is
Everyone complaining about
Illegal immigrants taking all
The jobs when he can't even find
Someone to work the jobs he has?
Let's get 'em a "green card."


So, I got to wondering about his comment on the unemployment rate. Having been trained in economics, I was taught that anything below about 5% unemployment is considered full employment because there are a certain percentage of the populace that is either unemployable, or chooses to remain unemployed. As of January 1, 2007, our national unemployment rate stood at 4.6%. Click on this link to a table of the Unemployment Rate by State as of Dec. 31, 2006. I understand the "illegal" part of the argument; what I don't understand is the resistance to a work permit program. The jobs are here and a lot of them are going unfilled because it is "beneath the dignity" of our spoiled welfare class to take them.