Atlanta top metro area--for job losses (Washington: crime, tech jobs, public school)

[FlyiMetro]

Originally Posted by toredyvik

hahah nah DC, i guess my post was kind of random...

I was watching the Pink Panther last friday.

[BringBackCobain]

Originally Posted by FlyiMetro

Oh Roman Empire days....whats wrong out in Italy?

Italy is collapsing, just like every other quasi-socialist Western European country.

I have no sympathy for the mother country. I hope Italy and every other Western European country fails, as it is the only thing that will wake this country up and realize how sick our civilization is.

We are living in interesting times. Of course, nothing lasts forever, but hopefully things will play out similar to the Eastern and Western Roman Empire, with Europe as Western Rome and the U.S. as Eastern Rome. Western Rome collapsed, while Eastern Rome continued on, learning from Western Rome's mistakes.

[DTL3000]

Originally Posted by neil0311

Sorry...you're wrong. There are jobs out there, just not enough skilled people to staff them. See the link below for a story today on CNBC on the topic, and there have been others.

News Headlines

Don't really understand your point with this one. That article basically says(in one helluva clusterfluff way) that employers are complaining about not being able to find qualified people for those unfilled jobs yet aren't willing to invest in training people to do those jobs. That is the BIGGEST cop out I've ever heard. If you desperately need people to do a job, you take a few months to train them. I doubt many of these jobs are brain surgery.

There is a severe lack of communication between industries/employers and job seekers. Add to that HR personnel who have no clue what skills are really required to do a particular job and how unrelated skills can translate to new scenarios.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by DTL3000

Don't really understand your point with this one. That article basically says(in one helluva clusterfluff way) that employers are complaining about not being able to find qualified people for those unfilled jobs yet aren't willing to invest in training people to do those jobs. That is the BIGGEST cop out I've ever heard. If you desperately need people to do a job, you take a few months to train them. I doubt many of these jobs are brain surgery.

There is a severe lack of communication between industries/employers and job seekers. Add to that HR personnel who have no clue what skills are really required to do a particular job and how unrelated skills can translate to new scenarios.

Right, it sounds like these CEOs are standing with their hands in their pockets and moaning because of a lack of skilled workers. In other words, they are waiting for these skilled workers to come forward. Ok, so from where? Where do these hoped for workers get their skills from in the first place? There is a false economy at work here as the CEOs want to cut costs by getting somebody else's skilled worker.

Even in brain surgery, the new surgeon would work with an experienced one to pass on the skill sets. Senior engineers and programmers work with the new ones to develop their skills. I recall reading a Georgia Tech Sports board when someone posted that he was looking for a Web Designer...but he stressed that he needed an expert...it was not Entry Level! The dude must have been desperate to resort to posting a job on a sports discussion board. Sounds like corporate America is trying to maximize profits by not putting people in the pipeline and now it's running dry and they wonder why! Oh yes, but they can bring in foreign workers with the skills and experience which shows Americans are just too lazy!

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by DTL3000

Don't really understand your point with this one. That article basically says(in one helluva clusterfluff way) that employers are complaining about not being able to find qualified people for those unfilled jobs yet aren't willing to invest in training people to do those jobs. That is the BIGGEST cop out I've ever heard. If you desperately need people to do a job, you take a few months to train them. I doubt many of these jobs are brain surgery.

There is a severe lack of communication between industries/employers and job seekers. Add to that HR personnel who have no clue what skills are really required to do a particular job and how unrelated skills can translate to new scenarios.

My point, which was called "BS," was that we have skills deficit, but millions of jobs available without qualified applicants. Simple point.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by neil0311

My point, which was called "BS," was that we have skills deficit, but millions of jobs available without qualified applicants. Simple point.

It's not quite as simple as you make it sound, Neil.

If these companies were willing to invest anything at all in training, I strongly suspect that many of these "millions" of open positions would be filled to their long-term satisfaction quite quickly.

You can't obtain experienced FTEs for zero cost. If the salary isn't enough to bring people in, lower the salary, factor in some ramp-up time, and provide the required training to someone who meets most of the core requirements.

I'll bet you'll get a LOT more qualified hits if you take that approach.

Companies used to use an apprenticeship system of sorts to bring new IT employees into the fold. Old-timers would show newbies the ropes, and the two would work together for a period of time before the buck was passed.

Why aren't most companies doing this anymore? It makes no sense, and it results in a "skills deficit" which is largely of the business world's own making.

[testa50]

This might improve over time. I think demanding high skills (and providing top salaries) reflects companies favoring short-term horizons over long-term horizons due to economic uncertainty. Instead of investing in a company for five years from now, companies are investing the bare minimum necessary to fulfill demand here and now.

If we had sustained economic growth over a few years, companies would certainly be more willing to buy into the future and hire younger people with fewer skills. I think lack of hiring among lower-skilled (but educated) folks signals corporate America's lack of faith in the economy long term.

[AcidSnake]

Good luck getting the resident city-data pro-corporate cheerleaders to address this issue. Obfuscation and avoidance seems to be the order of the day.

On another note, you know what have always confused me? How is it that folks of that ilk can come down hard on illegal immigration, but will inexplicably look the other way when these companies export jobs to third-world nations?

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Companies used to use an apprenticeship system of sorts to bring new IT employees into the fold. Old-timers would show newbies the ropes, and the two would work together for a period of time before the buck was passed.

Why aren't most companies doing this anymore? It makes no sense, and it results in a "skills deficit" which is largely of the business world's own making.

[neil0311]

More "BS"

Cherokee Tribune - Labor commissioner laments lack of skilled workers

[testa50]

Might as well update here since the September labor report came out yesterday.

All in all a mediocre report. The metro lost 4,600 jobs last month. Leisure and hospitality really took it on the chin with 7,000 lost jobs, but that is a hugely cyclical industry that always booms in summer and busts afterwards.

Going back to my "problem three" sectors of Construction, Finance, and Government, here is a chart that shows performance over the last year, plus all other employment:



You can see that employment in All Other Sectors is slightly higher than a year ago, but not by very much.

Government bounced back in September and added 5,200 jobs last month. This is normal for this time of year, but we are seeing a lot less of a bounce in employment as summer ends these last few years. If you look back at the last decade, typically government employment declines starting in May, bottoms out in July, and reaches May levels again in September. But since 2009, it hasn't quite bounced back to May levels. This year, we are 6,900 jobs below May levels. The bounce from July to September has been smaller the last few years: it used to be 15-20,000 jobs every year, but lately it has been closer to 10,000 jobs. This indicates that although the government added jobs last month, the sector as a whole is still contracting.

Construction seemed to have bottomed out earlier this year, but is struggling once again with 2,500 jobs lost. It is still well above its low point, but doesn't seem to be growing.

Finance continues its downward spiral, with yet another 1,500 jobs lost and a fresh low this month. All told, the finance industry has contracted by 36,000 jobs since 2007. Its decline hasn't been as dramatic as the construction industry, which has nearly halved in terms of total employment, but it is still declining steadily while the construction industry is merely stagnant.


One the good news front, Professional, Scientific, and Technical sub-sector has added 8,300 jobs over last year, which is a healthy gain. 5,000 of those jobs have been in Computer Systems Design--maybe the efforts to make Atlanta a tech hub are actually working? Also, Transportation and Warehousing--logistics, essentially--is 3,900 jobs above where it was a year ago, and Manufacturing has added 4,200 jobs over the last year.

These are all basic employment areas, which over the long run are more important than non-basic areas. So maybe the future is looking a bit brighter, although the decline of several metro industries seems intractable for the time being.