25 Of The Best Responses To New York’s New Mayor Eric Adams Calling Workers ‘Low-Skill’
Nobody’s immune from making verbal slip-ups, no matter how much experience with public speaking they have. Newly-minted New York mayor Eric Adams is facing quite a bit of heat right now from some politicians and the crowd on Twitter for a recent gaffe. He accidentally referred to workers as ‘low-skill’ instead of ‘low-wage.’
Some people believe that Adams directly insulted low-wage employees, and Bored Panda has collected a series of tweets that show what social media users thought of the mayor’s words. Scroll down to have a read.
However, politics is more complicated than just that and sometimes it can be hard to hear the message through the noise. Some think that it’s unfair to criticize Adams so harshly, considering the context of his comments: he was expressing support for low-wage workers. Others think that the comment itself might not be the main issue at all, but rather him urging employees to go back to working from the office rather than from home.
But what’s your opinion? Let us know in the comments what you think of Adams’ ‘low-skill’ comment, dear Pandas. Do you think it was an honest mistake or do you believe it shows something about his attitude towards anyone in a low-wage position? What’s your verdict on NYC’s new mayor so far?
Bored Panda reached out to celebrity, pop culture, and entertainment expert Mike Sington for a few comments on how public figures can avoid gaffes and how he interpreted Mayor Adams' words. Scroll down for our full interview with Mike.
Eric Adams just said “Low skill workers like cooks, messengers and Dunkin’ Donuts employees don’t have the academic skills to sit in a corner office” pic.twitter.com/KaoY9MNZ8J
— Achmat X (@AchmatX) January 4, 2022
Reporter: Many workers don’t feel safe going back to work and employers want to delay back to office.
Adams: pic.twitter.com/qthAGKHZOf— Achmat X (@AchmatX) January 4, 2022
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Celebrity expert Mike told Bored Panda that public figures should always be aware of who they're speaking to and should always prepare as much as possible beforehand to avoid mistakes.
"Public figures must always keep in mind who their audience is when speaking to them, and realize their audience, and themselves, do not have the same life experiences," he said. "A phrase or word that seems fine to you, may not land well with your audience. Preparation is the best way to avoid slip-ups and gaffes. Know what you’re going to say, and know who you’re saying it to."
Mike suggested that public figures own up to their gaffes to reduce the fallout. "Admit you misspoke, apologize, and correct yourself. Mayor Adams at first got defensive and said his remarks were 'distorted.' That tactic, which is common, just prolongs the controversy," he explained.
In Mike's opinion, Mayor Adams' 'low-skill' comment was, in fact, insulting. "Every job requires skills, and everyone’s skill set is different. No one has the right to judge what someone else’s skills are because they really don’t know," he told Bored Panda.
According to Mike, Adams is "off to a bumpy start," but the expert's willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. "He’s brand new at the job. He’s got a very difficult job, and I’m hoping he succeeds."
NYC mayor Adams later corrected himself and pointed out that he meant to say ‘low-wage’ instead of ‘low-skill.’ However, he still drew a lot of fire from some progressive Democrats, among them, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“The suggestion that any job is ‘low skill’ is a myth perpetuated by wealthy interests to justify inhumane working conditions, little/no healthcare, and low wages. Plus being a waitress has made me and many others *better* at our jobs than those who’ve never known that life,” she wrote on Twitter.
Adams believes that Ocasio-Cortez’s comments were off-point and called her the “word police.” New York’s new mayor has a lot of experience working low-wage jobs himself and his own mother was a house cleaner.
Low skilled is not the same as low valued. There are people who’s only employable skill is sweeping. They still deserve a livable wage. That is what this man is arguing for. You just need to hear before and after.
“I was a cook. I was a dishwasher. If nobody came to my restaurant when I was in college, I wouldn’t have been able to survive. When you talk about closing down our city, you’re talking about putting low-wage workers out of a job. I’m not letting that happen,” he wrote on Twitter.
According to Adams, employees going back to work from their offices instead of their homes would give a boost of support to low-wage workers in the food and service industry. However, with the Covid-19 pandemic raging on, some are questioning this drive.
On the one hand, Adams is suggesting ways to boost the earnings that small businesses get. On the other hand, there is the vital question of controlling the spread of the coronavirus: one of the ways that it can be reduced is by encouraging people to work remotely.
That’s pretty much his point. If you listen to more, he’s saying, ‘you sit behind your desk making decisions about the most vulnerable, stop being a selfish prick and give my hardworking front line people a livable wage’.
Do they also begin with "D" and end with "onald J. Trump"?
Load More Replies...Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told CNBC that it is offensive to use the term ‘low-skill.’ According to her, the term creates a false link between low pay and low academic requirements.
“I try not to use that term myself because I’m not sure who that is possibly referring to. A lot of people talk about credentials or amount of education, but that’s not the same thing as skills. It’s a way to make an excuse for why some jobs in the U.S. economy are paid such low wages,” she said.
“When we think about the valuing of many low-wage jobs, it’s not just about the undervaluing of that work, it’s also tied up in historical sexism, racism, xenophobia. It’s often that these workers don’t have the leverage or bargaining power to get better wage contracts or working conditions.”
I know right...no longer essential...in reality we were just expendable.
Meanwhile, Ross Barkan, writing for ‘Jacobin,’ stresses the fact that Adams was clearly expressing support for low-wage workers with his comments. However, the main issue according to Barkan is that NYC’s mayor “has no interest in substantive policies to aid [the city’s] working class.”
“No worker should be shamed for enjoying remote work. Personally, I like remote work. Commutes are draining. Certain professions must ultimately be in-person, but there are many that don’t have to be. Many people have found remote work rewarding, allowing them to spend more time with friends and family. A work-life balance can be restored,” writes Barkan.
I have worked retail and food service - Those that work 3rd shift on the weekend at Waffle House deserve hazzard pay.
The Workers of Kellogs cereal distribution did it and they won. And when corporate tried to trick them into a bogus deal with a lot of fine print just get workers back on the line the workers called BS on it and continued to strike until their demands were met. Strike started October ended in December. Unionizing works. Bring back unions.
“Adams, however, has many economic incentives to fight this trend of remote work, even if it’s inevitable. Remote work means less foot traffic in Midtown, Tribeca, and the Financial District. This punishes the many blue-collar workers—the food cart vendors, security guards, lunch spot cashiers, dishwashers—who have relied on the presence of white-collar workers to make their living. Though he’s plenty wealthy now, Adams does have roots in the working class and is able, in his own way, to relate to these struggles.”
This isn’t the only spot of trouble that Adams has been in. Most recently, he’s come under fire for alleged nepotism. The mayor is a former NYPD officer, just like his brother Bernard Adams, and appointed him as deputy police commissioner with a salary of a whopping 240k dollars per year.
"Not sure why he’d invite backlash right away by appointing his brother deputy police commissioner. People frown on nepotism at work. I question the advice he’s getting, someone should have told him that would be a bad move," celebrity expert Mike told Bored Panda how he views this particular situation.
Immigrants also can have all the degrees, but they don't have papers, or their University is not valid in your country.
All jobs require skills, just different skills. Even when they say "unskilled laborer"....like you need a lot of skills to do that job. Calling it "unskilled" or "low skilled" is ridiculous.
As someone who has had a lot of jobs to keep myself in uni - bartender, waitress, barista, maid, receptionist, etc - I met so many condescending, stupid and rude people, just because "I was serving them".
This is so important and most native people doesnt realise it. Many immigrants doing the lowest jobs are extremely educated. They are just discriminated and unable to find a job in their fields. As a migrant most of my colleagues have minimum a bachellor and the vast majority struggle to even find jobs as cleaning ladies.
I wouldn't say so. Sure there is a lot who make it seem like they are but there are police officers who actually protect and serve and that takes a lot of skill and courage.
Manufactured rage. Listen to before and after. Sounds like he’s arguing for livable wage. Sounds like someone (1%) wants to take light off the real issue by making it about something else.
He’s used a poor choice of words AND been taken out of context. An editor’s delight, he’s gifted the opposition a great little soundbite that undermines his own stance. As you rightly say, manufactured outrage, it’s looking for something to be offended by and he’s unwittingly provided it.
Load More Replies...You can be a highly skilled person doing a low-skill job. It is not an insult, it describes the amount of training you need to do the job. It does not mean that the job should not be well paid, that would have to been a second (and wrong) argument.
RP thank you for a concise and we’ll put statement of fact.
Load More Replies...By all means, let us combat the people who don't understand certain jobs and call them "low-skilled" by calling jobs that we don't understand "low-skilled." Heavy sarcasm implied. Can we not just be upset about the lack of livable wages, why does everyone resort to pretending that politicians and policeman are useless and unskilled?
During my Master's degree (which I completed with honours) I worked as a receptionist. Customers often referred to me as a "stupid receptionist", although I would say I was more intelligent than most of them... Work doesn't define your IQ at all.
I worked at a call center for eleven years before getting a job that's remotely related to my degree
Load More Replies...Isn't low-skill just jobs that almost anyone can learn with little to no training? Like, I wouldn't know what to do when you dropped me in a McDonald's kitchen right now, but I'm sure I'd learn in a few days. Drop someone at my desk and they'll need 4+ years of uni, training and experience to do what I do. Doesn't mean low-skilled jobs shouldn't pay a living wage, or that people who have those jobs are worth less, or are less intelligent or anything. It's just that the job requires little to no training.
What a f*****g clown. I graduated third in my class in high school, earned a degree in mechanical engineering, and joined the Army. Now I cook for a living. It isn't because I lack academic skills, it's because I made the decision to pursue happiness over wealth. I don't regret it.
Good for you! :-) Happiness *is* wealth, IMO. The real kind.
Load More Replies...Please don't feel offended but to dismiss "low skill job" term or pretend it's made up for political reasons is too far for me. I think low skill labor is right term for something everyone can do. But does that mean that anyone should be paid less than living wage? No. Is person doing such a job less valuable than corner office manager? Absolutely not. I don't think anyone should be ashamed saying/doing low skill job, basically whole society is standing on those, if they stopped working everyone notices immediately, if corner manager stops working, thanks to lower or low skill jobs that won't be noticed for weeks or months. Anyone working deserves to make enough money to live comfortably! And no job should be shame, people who try to shame work of any kind are those our society does not need.
Living wage. And by living, I mean "First World", not "you're technically breathing with a heartbeat".
Oh, is THAT what the yanks have been pissed off about?! Meanwhile in New Zealand, Cindy inched the minimum wage somewhat closer to a living wage (but not all the way) and our fighting mostly just consisted of businesses bleating about how it was hard for them to afford (like it’s not hard for their employees to afford basic necessities?!)
The only problem is that low-paid doesn't automatically mean low-skilled, of course there are plenty of jobs that anyone can do, there always has been and always will be, not everyone is going to study, train whatever. This is a bit if a s**t-storm in a tea-cup.
Once, when I was 17 I went to pick tomatoes at a farm. You can hardly find a "lower skill" job than that. I was young, in shape and full of energy. The farmer's wife, 100lb soaking wet and pregnant, could pick about double what I did and she took plenty of breaks while I worked continuously. Low skill my ass.
I think it's clear he's not interested in being re-elected.
Technically he is right. Low wage workers have low skills that is why they get paid low wages. A hamburger flipper has low skills and gets paid low wages. Very simple to understand but this is a political attack. Can anyone challenge this? Low skills = low wages?
I can challenge it. Minimum wage was meant to support a one income family. Move along.
Load More Replies...I've always said that a year of working for the public in a service capacity, be it in retail, a restaurant, customer service, etc, should be mandatory after completing HS. It would open people's eyes to how hard, tiring, and soul-crushing those jobs can be, and how much better we all need to treat the people who do them.
Not academic skills, more like academic credentials. We need to go back to “grandfathering” skilled people into higher positions, regardless of the highest education level they got to, instead of assuming some 22 year old graduate with zero work experience, who barely passed their classes to graduate and spent more time doing keg stands at the frat/sorority house than studying, is automatically more qualified. Before I went back to college, I was passed over for promotion for jobs I could’ve done in my sleep, for no other reason than I didn’t have a degree. The fresh college graduates they put in those positions invariably f****d them up, and guess who was called on to fix their fuckups? Yeah, the person who should’ve been given the job in the first place.
To people not from the USA: This type of nonsense is why we are f***ed. Don’t make our mistake of jumping to conclusions, because the media tells you they’ve done the thinking for you and ‘this specific thing’ is what you should focus on and believe.
Low skill labor is a myth. https://www.yahoo.com/now/kitchen-worker-fills-70-ketchup-163215003.html
Biggest lie they ever tell you. Skill doesent matter, demand does. If you are an engineer but we dont need any engineers and theres 100 other people who are also engineers we dont need, you are functionally useless! You can go on about how youre smart and went to college yada yada but if we dont need that kind of work then we dont need it. A HUGE chunk of the work force is "unskilled" labor, this is actually usually the part of society dying for employees (think you locals plaza, how many times have you seen now hiring signs around there? Some stores never take them down). You have assets (your time and body) and the work force desperately needs that. Yet they try to convince you that youre somehow worthless. If were desperate for cashiers then a cashier is worth more than a nasa scientist we dont need. All this talk about free market is always bs.
You're making a fool of yourself. Go read up on defund the police and then come back and we can discuss it like educated adults.
Load More Replies...Manufactured rage. Listen to before and after. Sounds like he’s arguing for livable wage. Sounds like someone (1%) wants to take light off the real issue by making it about something else.
He’s used a poor choice of words AND been taken out of context. An editor’s delight, he’s gifted the opposition a great little soundbite that undermines his own stance. As you rightly say, manufactured outrage, it’s looking for something to be offended by and he’s unwittingly provided it.
Load More Replies...You can be a highly skilled person doing a low-skill job. It is not an insult, it describes the amount of training you need to do the job. It does not mean that the job should not be well paid, that would have to been a second (and wrong) argument.
RP thank you for a concise and we’ll put statement of fact.
Load More Replies...By all means, let us combat the people who don't understand certain jobs and call them "low-skilled" by calling jobs that we don't understand "low-skilled." Heavy sarcasm implied. Can we not just be upset about the lack of livable wages, why does everyone resort to pretending that politicians and policeman are useless and unskilled?
During my Master's degree (which I completed with honours) I worked as a receptionist. Customers often referred to me as a "stupid receptionist", although I would say I was more intelligent than most of them... Work doesn't define your IQ at all.
I worked at a call center for eleven years before getting a job that's remotely related to my degree
Load More Replies...Isn't low-skill just jobs that almost anyone can learn with little to no training? Like, I wouldn't know what to do when you dropped me in a McDonald's kitchen right now, but I'm sure I'd learn in a few days. Drop someone at my desk and they'll need 4+ years of uni, training and experience to do what I do. Doesn't mean low-skilled jobs shouldn't pay a living wage, or that people who have those jobs are worth less, or are less intelligent or anything. It's just that the job requires little to no training.
What a f*****g clown. I graduated third in my class in high school, earned a degree in mechanical engineering, and joined the Army. Now I cook for a living. It isn't because I lack academic skills, it's because I made the decision to pursue happiness over wealth. I don't regret it.
Good for you! :-) Happiness *is* wealth, IMO. The real kind.
Load More Replies...Please don't feel offended but to dismiss "low skill job" term or pretend it's made up for political reasons is too far for me. I think low skill labor is right term for something everyone can do. But does that mean that anyone should be paid less than living wage? No. Is person doing such a job less valuable than corner office manager? Absolutely not. I don't think anyone should be ashamed saying/doing low skill job, basically whole society is standing on those, if they stopped working everyone notices immediately, if corner manager stops working, thanks to lower or low skill jobs that won't be noticed for weeks or months. Anyone working deserves to make enough money to live comfortably! And no job should be shame, people who try to shame work of any kind are those our society does not need.
Living wage. And by living, I mean "First World", not "you're technically breathing with a heartbeat".
Oh, is THAT what the yanks have been pissed off about?! Meanwhile in New Zealand, Cindy inched the minimum wage somewhat closer to a living wage (but not all the way) and our fighting mostly just consisted of businesses bleating about how it was hard for them to afford (like it’s not hard for their employees to afford basic necessities?!)
The only problem is that low-paid doesn't automatically mean low-skilled, of course there are plenty of jobs that anyone can do, there always has been and always will be, not everyone is going to study, train whatever. This is a bit if a s**t-storm in a tea-cup.
Once, when I was 17 I went to pick tomatoes at a farm. You can hardly find a "lower skill" job than that. I was young, in shape and full of energy. The farmer's wife, 100lb soaking wet and pregnant, could pick about double what I did and she took plenty of breaks while I worked continuously. Low skill my ass.
I think it's clear he's not interested in being re-elected.
Technically he is right. Low wage workers have low skills that is why they get paid low wages. A hamburger flipper has low skills and gets paid low wages. Very simple to understand but this is a political attack. Can anyone challenge this? Low skills = low wages?
I can challenge it. Minimum wage was meant to support a one income family. Move along.
Load More Replies...I've always said that a year of working for the public in a service capacity, be it in retail, a restaurant, customer service, etc, should be mandatory after completing HS. It would open people's eyes to how hard, tiring, and soul-crushing those jobs can be, and how much better we all need to treat the people who do them.
Not academic skills, more like academic credentials. We need to go back to “grandfathering” skilled people into higher positions, regardless of the highest education level they got to, instead of assuming some 22 year old graduate with zero work experience, who barely passed their classes to graduate and spent more time doing keg stands at the frat/sorority house than studying, is automatically more qualified. Before I went back to college, I was passed over for promotion for jobs I could’ve done in my sleep, for no other reason than I didn’t have a degree. The fresh college graduates they put in those positions invariably f****d them up, and guess who was called on to fix their fuckups? Yeah, the person who should’ve been given the job in the first place.
To people not from the USA: This type of nonsense is why we are f***ed. Don’t make our mistake of jumping to conclusions, because the media tells you they’ve done the thinking for you and ‘this specific thing’ is what you should focus on and believe.
Low skill labor is a myth. https://www.yahoo.com/now/kitchen-worker-fills-70-ketchup-163215003.html
Biggest lie they ever tell you. Skill doesent matter, demand does. If you are an engineer but we dont need any engineers and theres 100 other people who are also engineers we dont need, you are functionally useless! You can go on about how youre smart and went to college yada yada but if we dont need that kind of work then we dont need it. A HUGE chunk of the work force is "unskilled" labor, this is actually usually the part of society dying for employees (think you locals plaza, how many times have you seen now hiring signs around there? Some stores never take them down). You have assets (your time and body) and the work force desperately needs that. Yet they try to convince you that youre somehow worthless. If were desperate for cashiers then a cashier is worth more than a nasa scientist we dont need. All this talk about free market is always bs.
You're making a fool of yourself. Go read up on defund the police and then come back and we can discuss it like educated adults.
Load More Replies...