10,000 people applied for 300 jobs at Albuquerque’s new Cheesecake Factory: Maybe this means something?

According to a new report from ABQ Biz First, 10,000 people applied for 300 positions at the City’s new Cheesecake Factory. This is the kind of statistic that screams for interpretation and there are a slew of them:

1) The obvious bad news (we already knew this) is that Albuquerque’s economy is in the tank and that competition for low-wage, low-skilled positions is really tough. Approximately 9,700 people applied for but were rejected from cooking, waiting tables, and greeting people at a restaurant.

2) The good thing is that lots of people still want to work and find jobs even at low pay. This speaks to the fact that despite all the obstacles to work and government handouts, a lot of people still want to work, they just can’t find a job.

3) If they care about these working class people who want to work, but can’t find it, our city and state leaders should allow more of those people to work by eliminating arbitrary wage floors.

4) We know “right to work” states generate jobs more readily than “forced unionism” states. Liberal opponents of “right to work” claim that wages are reduced in such states. There is plenty of research to the contrary, but New Mexicans need jobs and they need them now. Hundreds of people in the State’s largest City were TURNED DOWN work at a restaurant!

5) The “happy talk” about the local economy should cease until relatively low-wage businesses like restaurants actually have to compete for workers rather than having 10,000 to choose from.