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Old 04-23-2011, 09:52 AM
 
Location: Stephenville, Texas
1,071 posts, read 1,785,502 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gardener34 View Post
"The only reason the McJobs are left is because they haven't been able to outsource those...and believe me, I'm sure they've tried. " yes they did try, in our one McDs they tried a test in which you placed your order yourself at a kiosk and fed your checkcard or cash into a little slot. They took it out after a year. Although most of the grocery stores now have the self serves. which I NEVER use btw... as they always seem to malfunction.

I would say the laidoff engineers are working at Radioshak and Bestbuy - yes I have met them there.

If you never use them, how do you know they malfunction?
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Old 04-23-2011, 11:57 AM
 
Location: Near a river
16,042 posts, read 21,898,619 times
Reputation: 15773
Quote:
Originally Posted by bradykp View Post
they have scripts that they follow. it really isn't a high-skilled job. i did a tech support call center job in high school. it's a step higher than customer service, but it's not very much higher.

Macs are a little different though because of the model Apple uses for tech support. The "Genius" bar is a bit more advanced in terms of tech support than Dell's tech support is. but either way, it's a job that high school and college kids could do no problem. The trouble-shooting steps are spelled out for them, and rarely does it require much knowledge that couldn't be taught in a day or two of training.
And our high school and college kids and adults are not doing these jobs, which are not here.
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Old 04-25-2011, 12:08 AM
 
4,765 posts, read 3,709,888 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathguy View Post
...Do I worry for my kids? No. Guess why? They are smart and I push education like a crack dealer. They will work the MANY available high paying jobs.
I hope you are right. I am on the fence on this one. And I historically have felt the way you do. The huge number of well educated people I know, who have struggled to find jobs, is hard to ignore. The folks who have graduated with teaching degrees, computer skills and chemistry degrees and are living with their parents, working retail, portrays a worrisome message.

What degree is a slam dunk for long term employment these days? Will those fields be over run with new graduates in 5 or 10 years? The high cost of education is only compounding the problem. Not everyone can work in health care, education and financial services, the so-called hot fields. Yes, the top people will find jobs. But intense competition for those jobs will likely drive down pay, making that $150K degree even harder to swallow.

And what if one's interests and talents do not coincide with the current trends in employment? Forcing a child to study in a field that they are not really interested in sounds like a recipe for unhappiness.

Last edited by shaker281; 04-25-2011 at 01:03 AM..
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Old 04-25-2011, 08:05 AM
 
Location: San Diego California
6,795 posts, read 7,256,358 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathguy View Post
Do I worry for my kids? No. Guess why? They are smart and I push education like a crack dealer. They will work the MANY available high paying jobs.
I have an acquaintance who is a Chemical Engineer, a very well educated person.
He lost his job some time ago, due to his company going under, and by the time he was able to find another, he had lost his savings, investments, and home.
He and his family are now basically starting over from scratch and will struggle financially for some time.
In this economy, education is not a sure fire defense for life destruction.
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Old 04-25-2011, 11:42 AM
 
Location: West Orange, NJ
12,546 posts, read 21,329,541 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newenglandgirl View Post
And our high school and college kids and adults are not doing these jobs, which are not here.
many of these jobs have left the country, but there still are a lot of jobs like these in the country.
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Old 04-25-2011, 11:49 AM
 
Location: West Orange, NJ
12,546 posts, read 21,329,541 times
Reputation: 3730
Quote:
Originally Posted by shaker281 View Post
I hope you are right. I am on the fence on this one. And I historically have felt the way you do. The huge number of well educated people I know, who have struggled to find jobs, is hard to ignore. The folks who have graduated with teaching degrees, computer skills and chemistry degrees and are living with their parents, working retail, portrays a worrisome message.

What degree is a slam dunk for long term employment these days? Will those fields be over run with new graduates in 5 or 10 years? The high cost of education is only compounding the problem. Not everyone can work in health care, education and financial services, the so-called hot fields. Yes, the top people will find jobs. But intense competition for those jobs will likely drive down pay, making that $150K degree even harder to swallow.

And what if one's interests and talents do not coincide with the current trends in employment? Forcing a child to study in a field that they are not really interested in sounds like a recipe for unhappiness.
i think that there is a large need for a variety of types of jobs within the healthcare industry, not just healthcare jobs. As the industry starts to embrace technology, many consultants and business analysts will assit companies that are implementing new technologies. There's also a large demand for doctors, nurses, and physical therapists to support the increasing demand for joint replacements expected over the next couple decades. not eeryone is going to make big bucks, but if people were more adaptable, i think we'd get through these economic changes a bit better.

the attitude that people can be whatever they want to be i think is dangerous. i'd like to believe we can all get a job we somewhat enjoy, in a field that is interesting to us...but that's not necessarily reality.

telling little johnny he can be an artist if he wants to be is just not feasible anymore. now, if he wants to go into nursing, and do art in his spare time to see if it works out...by all means.

when did "work" become something we're supposed to enjoy? and this is seemingly a very American concept. i have a couple different backgrounds in my family and my wife's family...if you talk to our family members from those countries...they all send their kids into fields that westernized countries need now...not into fields that their kids can be whatever they want.

i'm not saying that's right 100%, but i think telling our children that they can follow their dreams and be whatever they want to be isn't necessarily the best advice.
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Old 04-25-2011, 11:50 AM
 
Location: West Orange, NJ
12,546 posts, read 21,329,541 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimhcom View Post
I have an acquaintance who is a Chemical Engineer, a very well educated person.
He lost his job some time ago, due to his company going under, and by the time he was able to find another, he had lost his savings, investments, and home.
He and his family are now basically starting over from scratch and will struggle financially for some time.
In this economy, education is not a sure fire defense for life destruction.
it's not a sure fire defense, but i think that stat on unemployment for people with a college degree is close to 5%. it's significantly lower than the average, and substantially lower than those with no degree.

Chemical Engineers in many parts of the country are in high demand. it may just be an unfortunate situation that no other jobs exist where your acquantance is located but i know it's still one of the highest paying degrees that you can get at my alma matter.
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Old 04-25-2011, 12:19 PM
 
8,263 posts, read 12,153,114 times
Reputation: 4799
Yup the anecdotal "I've got a friend" type stories of person with degree who can't find job aren't only in current economy. There are always people, who for some reason or another, are unemployed.

According to this the unemployment rate for chemical engineers in March of 2008 was only 2.3%. I have no idea what it is now, probably could wade thru BLS data.
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Old 04-25-2011, 12:20 PM
 
Location: Wherabouts Unknown!
7,841 posts, read 18,929,932 times
Reputation: 9584
bradykp wrote:
when did "work" become something we're supposed to enjoy?
I have not sought enjoyable work because it is something I am supposed to do. For me, that pursuit has been a self genertaed lifelong IDEAL, that has mostly eluded my grasp. If you think about it, doesn't it make sense to have a desire to enjoy an activity that consumes approximately 1/3 of the day, 5 days a week? It makes alot of sense to me! Personally, I consider those relative few who are doing work they genuinely love, to be among the most fortunate folks on the planet.
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Old 04-25-2011, 01:03 PM
 
Location: West Orange, NJ
12,546 posts, read 21,329,541 times
Reputation: 3730
Quote:
Originally Posted by slackjaw View Post
Yup the anecdotal "I've got a friend" type stories of person with degree who can't find job aren't only in current economy. There are always people, who for some reason or another, are unemployed.

According to this the unemployment rate for chemical engineers in March of 2008 was only 2.3%. I have no idea what it is now, probably could wade thru BLS data.
yeah. i happen to have gone to college with a lot of Chem Es, and i'm not surprised by that 2.3% number. they were switching jobs and moving up throughout the downturn. i was very jealous of them. granted, it's also the "i've got a friend" anecdotal experiences, but i was amazed how comfy they were while many of my friends in business and law were scrambling and stressed.
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