Workers / Labourers

[Jacobz]

I'm trying to figure out what the difference between workers and labourers are. As I understand workers have their "permanent" positions at workplaces - they get constant salaries which are the same every month as long as they are "employed" in a workplace.

But who can become a labourer? Only unemployed? Or can also regular workers become labourers in their free/rest time? If you have no more unemployed workers (everybody is employed somewhere) then is there a point in trying to hire labourers? Some buildings can hire both workers and labourers and some only workers - what does it depend on?

If I need to open a new work slot somewhere then I always use workers - at least this is predictable. If there are no more unemployed people to choose from then there's no point in trying to hire a labourer since nobody can become one.

Maybe labourers give you a bit more flexibility in certain cases when you want f. ex. to perform a one time task? But then again - if I need it then I just open a regular work slot for this action and fire the worker after it has been performed. Why should I try to hire a labourer?

Maybe there are some advantages to be gained of different salaries of workers and labourers?

In advance thank you very much!

[Trim]

Workers are permanently employed, as you say, and the wage you set in the town hall is what they receive each month, even if they have no work to do (a smithy without iron, for example). Workers cannot become labourers in their spare time. They get paid for rest periods, walking to and from work, and while they are doing other things like going to church, shopping or fetching water.

Anyone 18 or over who isn't a worker or manager can become a labourer. Those who aren't already labourers are listed as unemployed, but they aren't always looking for work - they may be on a rest period. Labourers get paid for each day they work; the check is made at the same time each day, and all labourers whose faces are in a building panel at that moment receive 1/30 of the monthly labourer wage. Labourers only work when there is work to do, as soon as the work runs out they get sent home. The only get paid for walking to work and the time they are actually working, not for their rest periods, going home or anything else.

From this, you can see that labourers are both cheaper and more efficient than workers, and that, given the choice, most of the time you should choose labourers. However, workers can sometimes be more versatile, you can control them directly, firing individual workers you don't like, for example (perhaps they live too far away), and they aren't likely to run off and find something else to do. With labourers, you get very little control, being able only to set their sex and maximum number. Although most moving of goods in my games is done by labourers, I always now get a cart shed early on, because goods get moved quicker that way, particularly for construction work.

As you point out, if you don't have many unemployed, you won't get labourers. After the first year or two, I generally aim to have about 40% unemployment in the winter just so that I get enough labourers for working the fields in the Spring and Autumn.

[Fred Sanford]

I use the Counselor feature extensively to manage workers seasonally. I will have for example the foresters go from 5 workers to 0 for the months of March and August- they will become laborers for sowing/harvesting. Same thing for all of the production centers- I get the whole town involved in sowing and harvesting.

I wish there were a mid-March setting so they would sync up better with the plowing.

[Jacobz]

Originally posted by Trim:

Workers are permanently employed, as you say, and the wage you set in the town hall is what they receive each month, even if they have no work to do (a smithy without iron, for example). Workers cannot become labourers in their spare time. They get paid for rest periods, walking to and from work, and while they are doing other things like going to church, shopping or fetching water.

Anyone 18 or over who isn't a worker or manager can become a labourer. Those who aren't already labourers are listed as unemployed, but they aren't always looking for work - they may be on a rest period. Labourers get paid for each day they work; the check is made at the same time each day, and all labourers whose faces are in a building panel at that moment receive 1/30 of the monthly labourer wage. Labourers only work when there is work to do, as soon as the work runs out they get sent home. The only get paid for walking to work and the time they are actually working, not for their rest periods, going home or anything else.

From this, you can see that labourers are both cheaper and more efficient than workers, and that, given the choice, most of the time you should choose labourers. However, workers can sometimes be more versatile, you can control them directly, firing individual workers you don't like, for example (perhaps they live too far away), and they aren't likely to run off and find something else to do. With labourers, you get very little control, being able only to set their sex and maximum number. Although most moving of goods in my games is done by labourers, I always now get a cart shed early on, because goods get moved quicker that way, particularly for construction work.

As you point out, if you don't have many unemployed, you won't get labourers. After the first year or two, I generally aim to have about 40% unemployment in the winter just so that I get enough labourers for working the fields in the Spring and Autumn.

As always a professional answer Trim; thank you very much indeed! ;) I really appreciate!

[sharpespur]

Thanks - excellent answer from Trim really helped me. Only issue I cant figure out is if i leave worker slots closed then often i cant have migrants as it says no work available. I guess that might just be temporary and once a demand for labourers spikes then migration will happen.

[Trim]

Originally posted by sharpespur:

Only issue I cant figure out is if i leave worker slots closed then often i cant have migrants as it says no work available. I guess that might just be temporary and once a demand for labourers spikes then migration will happen.

That's exactly what happens. Come Spring or Autumn, when you are sowing or harvesting, there will almost certainly be vacancies and so you will attract migrants. However, early in the game when you might want to attract migrants in the middle of winter, it sometimes pays to artificially create jobs just to ensure you have a vacancy. Building another charcoal pit is a good way of doing this. :-)

[Irish Aido]

I could be wrong here, but if the game Banished is anything to go by, you are always better having about 5 extra adults lazing about doing nothing. I used to want to keep strictly to the number of jobs verses available staff, but then when you expand you end up stretching your work force. I haven't seen any indication that extra unemployed adults complain. Sure they will eat food but it's not going to break the bank.

I have found that falsifying jobs to attract people to your town and then retracting the jobs works swimmingly. Clearly a morally bankrupt thing to do, but you are the Mayor! Rule as you wish!

[uwyiming]

Originally posted by Irish Aido:

I could be wrong here, but if the game Banished is anything to go by, you are always better having about 5 extra adults lazing about doing nothing. I used to want to keep strictly to the number of jobs verses available staff, but then when you expand you end up stretching your work force. I haven't seen any indication that extra unemployed adults complain. Sure they will eat food but it's not going to break the bank.

I have found that falsifying jobs to attract people to your town and then retracting the jobs works swimmingly. Clearly a morally bankrupt thing to do, but you are the Mayor! Rule as you wish!

In the real world of undocumented migrant labor, people undertake huge risks and trek long distances just for news spread by word of mouths. So I don't think it is morally bankrupt per se. Heck, my village is welcoming, well fed, and institutes public welfare for any struggling families, it is far more than what most real world places offer.

One awful exploit you can do to artificially create job needs is to set a production building, say a working mill, to move resources exclusively by cart by a labor. No labor will come around to deliver 30 bushels of grain in a cart, so the mill labor position is permanently open, even during a severe labor downturn.