They don't need people. They always complain about needing people because it's always in their interest to do so, but the fact that they don't just raise wages strongly suggests that they don't know how to profitably employ additional people and that "we need people" is just a bunch of hot air.
This dilemma, and many like it, vanish entirely if you stop paying attention to what people say and start paying attention to what they do.
Yes, if you need people, raise prices until you can afford the people that are available. The actual industries that do need people (like tech) have done that.
Right, in theory that's what we've always been told about how it works, but that is not what is actually happening. There has been almost zero correlation between unemployment and wage pressure for 20+ years now. In all industries, yes even tech.
It's just not working. Unless you're a director or exec, then your wages are skyrocketing. Everyone else is flat or declining.
Personally I think the issue is that there is still a lot of unemployment (see U6) that prevents classical wage inflation from happening. That, and people outside of highly skilled industries have basically no bargaining power these days + intense global competition in almost all industries
This dilemma, and many like it, vanish entirely if you stop paying attention to what people say and start paying attention to what they do.