What do you think are the key differences between someone trapped in mandatory overtime and someone trapped in part time work? The latter seem to be lower status occupations like restaurant and retail, while the former seem to be what’s left of the industrial workforce. Perhaps I assume people in those jobs have esoteric skills because that segment of the economy is pretty much inaccessible from entry level, but that inaccessibility could be from overcrowding, I suppose, as much as skill requirements.

Why do employers so consistently prefer working a smaller workforce overtime hours (at time and a half) over increasing staffing levels? Is the per-employee paperwork really more expensive than overtime hours? I find that hard to believe.