West Central Ohio blows as far as good jobs... (Dayton: fit in, apartment)

[ram2]

Originally Posted by Natural510

It's livable if you don't have children, debt or travel plans LOL That kind of belief is why labor has degraded so rapidly in this country...no longer having the expectation of middle-class wages for skilled positions.

I agree with the earlier points regarding "culture of contempt" for workers and being made to feel lucky to have the job you do. Workers are made to feel much more appreciated out West (I'm from California) and I had a hard time dealing with the exploitation I dealt with upon first moving here awhile back.

Really? Then why is my cousin "persuaded" to work 12-14 hour days at his job in Silicon Valley?

[Ohioan58]

Originally Posted by ram2

Columbus lacks, and always lacked, engineering jobs.

Cincinnati and Columbus have a lot of IT "jobs" in the sense of corporatized, Dilbert type positions in banking and insurance employing clueless button pushing drones.

I don't know any decent engineers in this region who do well. This region is the exact opposite of Silicon Valley. If you label yourself a "hard core engineer" and try to find that kind of work, say in product design or "true" software engineering, you will mainly wind up in abusive crappy positions.

So there is no engineering culture around here, none. Ohio is NOT the place where stuff is designed. "Our" people are not intelligent and well schooled enough to design and make things competently (I am talking about engineering and design, not manufacturing and machining). Because the people who *are* were driven out by lack of opportunity and a crappy work culture. An engineer around here who is unemployed winds up like the Michael Douglas character in "Falling Down".

This area has almost exactly the opposite dynamics of Silicon Valley.

[Natural510]

Originally Posted by ram2

Really? Then why is my cousin "persuaded" to work 12-14 hour days at his job in Silicon Valley?

If it's in Silicon Valley, I'm assuming he works in the tech field. He likely has a "career" which allows flexibility, while people around here mostly have "jobs".

[ram2]

Originally Posted by Natural510

If it's in Silicon Valley, I'm assuming he works in the tech field. He likely has a "career" which allows flexibility, while people around here mostly have "jobs".

He regularly works far more than 40 hours per week, for 40 hours pay.

[ryanek9freak]

I don't give a crap about IT or tech jobs. I don't know why this has turned into a discussion about those. Where are the skilled trades/service industry jobs Ohio is supposedly known for? Where are all the positions for mechanics, carpenters, plumbers, etc...

I can't wait to go back west, as soon as my sister relieves me, I'm outta here.

[Ohioan58]

Look at it this way. The supposed "elite" people in technology have a "fudge" of a time finding a decent job here. We in local technology industries are your canary in the coal mine. We're gasping for our breath, so assume that it's bad all around.

Believe it or not, the same factors drive both - a vibrant local economy. In an area with a great overall economy, everyone does much better, whether they're blue collar or in an engineering field.

[Crew Chief]

Well, I make pretty decent wages hauling groceries around the extended Tri-state. Yeah, I work more than 40 hours to make what amounts to good wages for a 40-hour week. But I believe that's the case in MOST jobs anymore. The skilled trades/service industry jobs ARE here. You just need to work darn hard to land one. And, most likely, stay awhile to ultimately earn better money...

[UKUKUK]

Originally Posted by ram2

He regularly works far more than 40 hours per week, for 40 hours pay.

His fault for not taking it to the labor board.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by UKUKUK

His fault for not taking it to the labor board.

Common in California for some reason. People there like to work 50+ hours per week.

[kjbrill]

Once the Bricks and Mortar industries began to be exported it has all been downhill. And I am talking about the various manufacturing industries. Not only did you require the physical structures, but the investment in equipment inside them, the skilled tradesmen to operate them, and the entire organizational structure to make the enterprise work. And yes, Engineers were a different commodity then, whether product design and testing Engineers, manufacturing and process control Engineers, quality control Engineers, there was a vast Engineering field.

But then we are told the US will be a service business oriented economy, where people will work in a cleaner environment instead of old dirty factories. What they forgot to tell us is a service business can typically be relocated over a weekend, lock stock and barrel. If the business is shrinking, lay people off and relocate to a smaller facility - there are dozens available about anywhere. If the business is growing, lease more office space and expand. But nowhere along the line is an investment being made in either equipment or people skills which cannot be quickly reversed.

And Software Engineering, what a damn joke that is. Where is the Engineering? What are iPhones, social network sites, super games, etc. doing to benefit the world's population? They may make the companies rich but their contribution to the enrichment of society worldwide is zilch! Those creating the fast trade algorithms which most of the Wall Street firms now use, are basically contributing zero to the betterment of the country.

I created and wrote my first computer program back in 1963 for the company I worked for. It was quite mundane as the purpose was to create control data for automated machinery producing a variety of metal parts. I continued to do this until I retired in 2003. Over the years I had to produce interfaces for the operators of the machinery and try to anticipate the problems they may encounter. This is where my original Mechanical Engineering education was valuable. The machining of metal is a mechanical process. All of the sophisticated monitoring equipment we had built into the machinery was valuable, but only if you could present it in an understandable format to the operator. NO it was not Donkey Kong!

Quit lamenting about the lack of jobs and good wages either here in Ohio or anywhere else in the US. Find fault with our politicians and their willingness to sell us down the river. Especially find fault with their willingness to extend the national debt to cover up their mistakes, and their inability to foster true manufacturing capabilities here in the US. Those who produce goods to lessen the burdens on human existence will be the winners. But some of the Green disasters we are seeimg now seeing are pure political wastes. Get the government out of the energy business as fast as possible, also the banks, basically everything private industry should be doing. If these business go broke, fine, but do not let them do it with large federal loans.

If you have a ***** about the job opportunity in Ohio or virtually anywhere else in the US, look no further than the Federal Government. What they have been doing recently is no different than going down to the casino and wishing to hit the big one.