The issue, is that things have been "OK" for a very long time, but the requests for "that raise" have always and systemically been met with "NO, and I will seek a replacement for you in India if you ask again."
Now that shit hit the fan, and the employer is no longer able to threaten outsourcing to india, the bill has come due on all those "Should have been given a raise, and you never fucking did, because you were too fucking greedy, you asshole" situations. The leverage is in the hands of the worker, because the employer cannot replace them, because there are no workers to replace them *WITH*.
Now, it is "YOu *WILL* give me that raise, and you *WILL* fix these shit work conditions, or you *WILL* go out of business."
The employers are crying very bitter tears about it.
No, I am not ENTIRELY unsympathetic for the employers: They genuinely HAVE painted themselves into a corner from which there is no escape. However, the people who are holding the brush that did the painting, are they themselves.
It is OBSCENELY WELL DOCUMENTED that US workers have-- ACROSS THE WHOLE GODDAMN BOARD-- NOT been getting pay increases that are asymptotic with inflation, and non-asymptotic in the NEGATIVE DIRECTION for the trend. Basically, americans have been getting paid the functional equivalent of "Less and Less" every decade, routinely, for the past 70 years. What workers are demanding now, really is just "Actually workable wages." Not "Deal breaking wages."
The ISSUE, is that the employers have made a house of cards based on the presumption that this trend could continue forever.
It could not, and now, will not.
Is it likely to crash a good portion of the economy? YES.
Is that painful? YES.
Is it necessary to fix this problem? Sadly-- YES. Being "asked politely during the good times" has been OBSCENELY WELL DOCUMENTED to NOT WORK. The long-standing argument from the employer has been "But we paid what was industry standard rates!!!! We had to stay COMPETITIVE!!!" Well--Under these NEW pressures, MOST of their competition-- SPECIFICALLY-- the ones that *CANNOT* (*or will not) pay the newly demanded wages, in order to secure the now scarce employment pool, WILL GO UNDER. This means that their depressed wage scales will no longer be tabulated as part of same said "Industry standard wages!!", and the new wages that were demanded will become the norm. The shortage of labor will remain, which means that it is impossible for the remaining employers to become monopolies of the market (because it will not be possible to satisfy all demand.) This means that there will be a BOOMING market to meet that demand, at the newly adjusted price structure curve intersections.
The market will BRUTALLY ADJUST.