Just in time for the holidays, two new gut punches for long-term care operators.
While neither comes as a real surprise, each packs quite a wallop.
Worst things first: Inflation is getting bad, very, very bad. Costs have been steadily rising throughout the year. And now this: The Consumer Price Index jumped by a gaudy 6.8% over November. That’s the fastest one-month surge since 1982, the same year Epcot opened.
Thanks to an ongoing pandemic, rising consumer demand, supply chain bottlenecks and a real estate sector gone wild, just about everything seems to be getting more and more expensive.
I hardly need to point out what this trend is likely to do for the prices you pay for everything connected to your operations, from medical supplies to possible expansion plans. Here’s a hint: They won’t cost less.
Which allows me to segue into Problem Number Two: labor pains. Or to be more specific, labor pains resulting from higher labor costs.
According to a Conference Board Salary Increase Budget Survey out last week, employers are set to increase their budgets for raises by 3.9% in 2022. That pace hasn’t been seen since 2008.
What’s especially galling here is that not only are you going to have to pay workers more, they probably won’t even be inclined to say thanks. As a practical matter, those receiving an increase of anything south of 6% are likely to feel like they are falling behind. Because, well, they will be.
How’s a 6% across-the-board raise increase sound? Better brace for it. Or even more defections.
These insomnia inducers come as millions of people are shedding their jobs in search of better opportunities elsewhere. Among the most likely to up and leave? You guessed it: earners at or near minimum wage levels.
This is hardly the news we need as we prepare to ring in the New Year. Which reminds me: Have you seen what rings are selling for these days?
John O’Connor is Editorial Director for McKnight’s.
