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I think there is a big point Rambler hit and most people miss. I have no idea how our consumer driven economy is supposed to function without consumers? Companies are going to use less labor and workers in the future. Labor in the US cost too much on this global race to the bottom. So how does business sell it's goods and services? A nation of temps part time workers and unemployed workers will not have much to spend. This is were we are heading long term. BTW 70% of our economy is consumer driven. Thus if large blocks of our population have little money to spend it will be a problem. Wages for US workers will keep falling long term. It is called global labor arbitrage it will happen to almost everyone.
Apparently, over 25% of California is unemployable. Certain cities like Detroit are places where apparently 50% of all people are completely unemployable. That's right. Blame these people. It's all their fault. It's these people's fault that they don't have a federal government job in DC where the winners live. We all know federal government workers are the real go-getters and hard workers who deserve every cent of their inflated salaries. *I hope the sarcasm is detected here* I swear I've seen at least 10-20 California license plates out here in the DC Area in the past two days alone.
Believe it or not sheltered trolls, entire swaths of this country are struggling to find work *gasp*. Many places in America have been feeling the long-term effects of unemployment for decades. Why don't you trolls go to Park Heights in Baltimore City or take a trip to the "Murder Dubs" in East Oakland and tell all the people loitering and selling drugs outside in the hood that they are a bunch of lazy unemployable leaches.
Last edited by goldenchild08; 06-22-2012 at 07:37 PM..
Well, many of the airlines ARE failing currently, or at least laying off thousands, so I'm not sure that's a good argument these days.
Long story short, if GM and the rest had not been bailed out, sure, they would have survived in some form... a vastly diminished form with far fewer jobs. Plus, a lot of suppliers and related businesses would have either gone under or been crippled by this event, which would put even more people out of work.
Nonsense unless you think had they not had Uncle Sam holding their hand, they would sell fewer cars. Even if that happened, so what, transplants gain share and add US jobs. They want to add MORE plants anyway.
The UAW was paid back by the POTUS, pure an simple.
I have no idea how our consumer driven economy is supposed to function without consumers?
Same as they have for 3 plus years, with no major layoffs in aggregate after the 1st half of 2009. They got rid of the 8 million they could, rightsized for the new volume, and have been status quo since.
Same as they have for 3 plus years, with no major layoffs in aggregate after the 1st half of 2009. They got rid of the 8 million they could, rightsized for the new volume, and have been status quo since.
Well, at least this is admission that the corporations screwed us over - they cut themselves to the bone and gutted our workforce for a quick buck. Sure, they have huge profits now, but long-term, they are going to be in trouble... and sacrificing the lives of 8 million people on the altar of "right-sizing" is not the type of thing we should be supporting as a nation.
As for no major layoffs since 2009, I assume you don't count: the 27,000 at HP, the 10,000 from Nokia, the 6,000 from RIM, the 10,000 from Sony, the 1,700 from Verizon, and so on. Yep, no major layoffs there!
For more information about our great, "right-sized" economy, check out the following link:
I recently won well over 3 million dollars. I immediately quit my PT job in my field upon finding out and confirming I had indeed won. I don't plan on keeping my skills updated or any such non-sense. It's possible I will run out of money by the time I'm maybe 75, but I seriously doubt it. Two-three years from now I will be unemploayable and loving ever minute of it.
I think there is a big point Rambler hit and most people miss.
I have no idea how our consumer driven economy is supposed to function without consumers?
You are assuming that UAW jobs are average consumers.
The fact is that all auto workers at foreign-owned auto plants make great wages with great benefits.
The new UAW worker working side-by-side with senior ( bailed-out ) UAW workers make crappy wages.
Tell me the difference between the UAW and GW Bush ( ie Haliburton ) or BH Obama ( ie Solyndra ) crony capitalists. I don't see it.
There is no way propping up the very system that collapsed the American auto industry helped the country overall.
My first reaction when reading the OP question re: unemployable was OMG what a socially biased, prejudicial, bigoted and uninformed inciteful question to pose. After reading ALL the replies, I fear I wasn't far off. However, one commentor suggested (and I'm paraphrasing) that we take a step back and ponder the exact question. So I did. Unless the OP wants arbitrary, uninformed, unproductive guesswork from respondents, the question as posed is unanswerable and should be re-phrased. As it was presented, the querry doesn't take into account numerous factors that determine an individual's employability. In no particular order of priority consider: the average IT person won't last a full working day on a Texas cattle ranch, therefore, that IT person is unemployable, whereas, many farmers, ranchers and 'cowhands' now have college degrees and might be equipped to replace the IT person (miserable though they would be) with some 'ojt'. And what of a person's physical limitations...while those limitations may keep one from certain fields and specific jobs, they do not necessarily exclude the person from EVERY job. And what of geographic area: some locales are industry centered, while others are agriculturally centered. Persons willing to relocate to another area that offers employment opportunities in the person's skill set are, therefore, still/more employable than those remaining in an area economically disadvantaged. And what of re-tooling and re-training...some are willing some are not, therefore, some remain employable and some do not. And what is to be said for public service - real public service... The vast majority of us, employed or not, COULD provide useful services to underpriviliged citizens at home and abroad. But, (and I'm guessing a bit here) the majority of us UNEMPLOYED Americans have no interest/desire/passion/gumption to volunteer, even for a salary, to improve the quality of someone else's life.
In order to answer the (presumed) baseline question parameters need to be set, research needs to be done, data collected and analyzed, all the while things are changing because life isn't stagnant. And, then there is the HUMAN factor for which no one can ever totally account.
How many do I think are unemployable, I can't imagine.
With the talk of employment, extending UI and trouble finding jobs, I thought it might be interesting to discuss what portion of the population is unable to function in a day to day job. What percentage of the population today do you believe to be unemployable?
What percentage of blacks currently reside in this country?.......
Well, at least this is admission that the corporations screwed us over - they cut themselves to the bone and gutted our workforce for a quick buck. Sure, they have huge profits now, but long-term, they are going to be in trouble... and sacrificing the lives of 8 million people on the altar of "right-sizing" is not the type of thing we should be supporting as a nation.
Talk to anyone working in the skilled trades department for the big three. They will be the first to tell you there is an imminent skilled labor shortage right around the corner. I will be the first to tell you a tool and die maker is rather difficult to find these days, and can easily earn +$25/hr in the Metro Detroit area. That is to say, a GOOD tool and die maker. They are extremely hard to find. Worse, it takes well over +4 years to train a tool and die maker to be the least bit productive. After a decade of training, you could maybe make a profit off their time. Most tool and die makers would tell you to flip burgers before considering pursuing this line of work, mostly due to the crap white collar management has put them through for years.
The manufacturing sector in this country has been royally screwed by the white collar, profit now, future be damned philosophy. Hence, we will continue to see our manufacturing base erode, mostly due to a lack of qualified workers.
The focus has been placed solely on automating everything. No one thought about training the guys to actually BUILD the stupid machines. That type of training takes years, and is very expensive. Management wonders why kids aren't lining up for $10/hr jobs to learn one of the most challenging, stressful, and hardest of the skilled trades. A plumber can earn more with half the B.S., and none of the math, cranky foremans, and alcoholic/wife beating/burnout coworkers who will steal your lunch. I would personally tell any young person to RUN. Not worth the years of your life that you would loose for such a challenging, yet worthless career that will get you no respect, and no reasonable quality of life. You will come home every night poorer than the previous, yet just a wee bit more hopeless.
My brother works for an engineering firm. He claims that most of the delays result from machines not being built to prints, errors, etc. This is all due to improper manufacturing of the stupid robots/machines/etc. Yes, our country is more or less finished. We have let our skilled trade infrastructure rot, and now the last of them are looking to retire. Good luck getting those cranky, grey haired men to stick around for a half a decade to train the next generation. Most of them have heart enough to tell these kids they'd be better off putting a gun to their head.
I admire people who DO for a living. Unfortunately, our country simply places no value on such a livelihood. It's nothing short of a tragedy how low we have gone, and how far we have ventured from our humble beginnings. There is no doubt in my mind that our forefathers would shake their heads in disapproval. We are the country of CANNOT, and that is just fine with most Americans.
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