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Im just telling it like it is, no assumptions here dude!!!!
This will be my last post on the matter but you "telling it like it is" based on *your* experiences and not knowing anything about the specifics of the gentleman in the article means you're making assumptions.
I know lots of people that went to work for one of the big 3 in the late 60s/early 70s that had degrees and whose jobs required degrees.
I'll not even get into your comment about not working for less than $20/hr...
The auto industry like pp stated is a special case. Again as we seem to be beating this dead horse on this board if a person chooses to leave home and come to Charlotte without work..that is a decision they must have thought long and hard about not only that but I am pretty sure they just didnt pick a dot on the map and start driving.
The NYT article is a bullet point reference to the problems workers of ALL educational and professional stripes are having in the Charlotte market. From white collar to the heating system repair guy I spoke with yesterday who'd been on a 5-month layoff...it's miserable here right now.
And as a native, who grew up knowing nothing but absolute boom times and growth, it's hard to comprehend a linkage between Charlotte and employment struggles.
We as a community have thought of Charlotte as having a protective shield against some of the economic forces that battered other areas over the decades.
That time is over. And if someone in a doctors office somewhere in Ohio is leafing through a well-thumbed 2007 magazine article listing Charlotte as a "hot" destination, etc, they need to examine the present economic situation closely.
Casey, you hit the nail on the head - those stories about Charlotte being a boom town are still circulating out there . . . and people are coming without doing their research.
We have seen other hard times here, tho. The boom did not start til the 90s. And during that time, NC (and the Piedmont, especially) lost textile mills and furniture factories. It is just that here in Charlotte, banking was the King of the Queen City. Well, the King has been knocked off his throne.
Until the late 90s, no one was paying much attention to Charlotte. The boom seems to have geared up around 2000, started blossoming in 2002-3, and hit a high in 2006 - and lasted til 2007. Things were already slowing down last year (08). I knew housing would slow down once NC made it impossible to get a no-doc loan. And sure nuff, figures started slowing by second quarter of 2008. Then the banking industry fell apart . . .
But we have had hard times here before . . . in the 70s and 80s, both recessions. The difference was . . . layoffs were just that - layoffs. A layoff typically meant - we are having to lay off workers temporarily and will re-hire a lot of these workers when the business cycle starts up again. Now, a layoff is just a way of saying - an employee was not fired - his/her job simply ended or the business closed.
Today, we have so many people who moved here specifically for a job. It used to be there simply were not as many people needing work. When a city is built on a specialized industry, and people move to that area for a job, things can fall apart pretty quickly when those jobs suddenly end.
Take the rust belt as an example - steel mills in PA . . . people are left w/ skills that no longer are relevant to finding employment where they live. That doesn't leave much of a choice except to relocate (or start your own business).
Back in the Depression, men would leave home and the catch phrase was "Write when you find work." Now, we are experiencing what our grandparents and great grandparent experienced. Sometimes, you have to leave your home to find a job - any job - anywhere.
The auto industry like pp stated is a special case. Again as we seem to be beating this dead horse on this board if a person chooses to leave home and come to Charlotte without work..that is a decision they must have thought long and hard about not only that but I am pretty sure they just didnt pick a dot on the map and start driving.
Well, a lot of people have picked a dot on the map and started driving. It is hard for me to believe, too, but indeed, that is exactly what people have done. They heard Charlotte was a cheaper place to live (and warmer) . . . and so they loaded up and came.
You must have missed the thread several months back when people were posting that absolutely - there were folks who have readily admitted that they filled up the car with gas and headed South . . . and when the tank ran out (or the second tank ran out) they stopped and said - welcome to your new home - let's go find a job.
Excellent article...people need to hear this time and time again b/c they keep coming here...it makes it harder for those that are here and are out of work to try and find work...
Excellent article...people need to hear this time and time again b/c they keep coming here...it makes it harder for those that are here and are out of work to try and find work...
Well, it sure makes for a gazillion resumes/applications sitting on someone's desk for every job opening. I don't know that it makes it harder for those who are already here, tho. The truth about getting a job is . . . networking often is the key. People tend to hire people who are recommended to them by someone they trust . . . or they hire people they know . . . so I would think that on that level, a newcomer is at a big disadvantage for landing a job cold turkey.
It seems we in Charlotte are faced with the same problem that those in california had during the DUST BOWL DEPRESSION. All these farmers who lost their dryed up farms and other drifters decided to move to california because they heard it was a mecca for jobs and very much like the famous Land of OZ. It took the police to guard the roads stoping people who just wanted to move there and didnt have a job.Maybe since we are in another depression we need this sort of thing now...or maybe a job tax to those who want to work here and havent been living here paying taxes like the locals have.
there is no land of opportunity in this country anymore.
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