Full-Time Jobs at All-time Low!

[mrviking]

Is this because Americans still refuse to do certain jobs. I hear that many IT jobs are now on the "don't want to do" job list now. Business have to search for more H1-B visa applicants to fill jobs.

Says Gallup CEO:

“The number of full-time jobs, and that’s what everybody wants, as a percent of the total population, is the lowest it’s ever been… The other thing that is very misleading about that number is the more people that drop out, the better the number gets. In the recession we lost 13 million jobs. Only 3 million have come back. You don’t see that in that number. “

[jimj]

You mention IT jobs, here's something that's been going on for years and was just reported yesterday to be on the rise again. It's not about Americans refusing to do jobs, it's companies wanting to cut costs to increase profits by any means possible.

USATODAY.com - Workers asked to train foreign replacements

And from NPR that bastion of conservative news:

"For the past decade, he's been studying how consulting firms use temporary work visas to help American companies cut costs. He says they use the visas to supply cheaper workers here, but also to smooth the transfer of American jobs to information-technology centers overseas.

What these firms have done is exploit the loopholes in the H-1B program to bring in on-site workers to learn the jobs [of] the Americans to then ship it back offshore," he says. "And also to bring in on-site workers who are cheaper on the H-1B and undercut American workers right here."
And from the same article:

"I remember having phone interviews and talking with the manager, having him sound really excited about my experience and he was going to bring me in to meet the team," Sawade recalls.

And then: nothing. He called his own placement agency to find out what happened.

"And that's when they told me, 'Oh, they hired somebody from Tata Consultancy.' And they actually told me on the phone, the woman I was talking to said her jaw just dropped when they found out how little Microsoft was paying this person from Tata Consultancy to do this job," he says.
Source: Who's Hiring H-1B Visa Workers? It's Not Who You Might Think : All Tech Considered : NPR

[boxus]

I do not know, sure, people are going to complain, but really, who would purposely pay someone more for a task that can be done by someone cheaper? Does anyone here purposely pay more for gasoline? More for what the heck ever? I have yet met anyone who purposely pays more for a product or service.

The US has been doing a similar thing for years through its Peace Corps and USAID; where they have been giving subsidized to free labor which has undermined the locals in the area. Look at a typical country with these two organizations in it;

- ESL instruction - for free undermining the locals who have the skills to do so, but cannot get paid ever because the US is giving it for free.

- Health activities - free, undermining those with the skills from the ability to create a business and hire more skilled people to engage in these projects.

- Agriculture consulting - undermining locals with these skills from offering their services in improving agriculture because the US is doing it for free.

So while we sit here and complain about some visa workers taking jobs at a lower cost, displacing Americans, the US has been actively doing the same thing in other countries for decades, with your tax dollars doing it. It is no surprise that once these organizations start operating in a country, they never leave.

[mrviking]

I think there is a difference. The target for the free services are for the people who can't afford the service to begin with. The people who can pay for there services at local rates not effecting the local service providers. In essence doing what the local government should be doing to help the less fortunate.
I agree about the H1-B here. But not with the illegals coming here and taking American jobs. You have a class of people that agree to work for less because they are limited with there illegal status. American business know this and exploit it causing the American worker to compete for lower wages or lose the job. I am all for a level playing field but that is not one. That's why many blue collar jobs have been stagnate for so many years.

[Malloric]

I don't really get who these articles appeal to.

Educated, informed people all already know this. A condescending article that assumes I'm ignorant and don't know that the unemployment rate doesn't capture those who are not looking for a job or are only working part-time when they want full-time work are not captured in the U3 I just find, well, condescending. End no, not everyone wants full-time work. People are retired, stay-at-home parents, are in school and only want part-time work, have daddy's trust fund, don't want to work more than part-time because they'll lose welfare benefits and actually be worse off. There's lots of reasons people don't work full-time.

The government reports all those numbers.
U4 is U3 + discourage workers
U5 is U4 + marginally attached workers
U6 is U5 + part-time for economic reasons (eg, can't find full-time work)

Those numbers are all reported. It's not a conspiracy. If you want to talk about the U6 rate, it's 11.3%. That's over 2% less than it was in Jan 2014.

[woxyroxme]

Obamacare is what is keeping companies from hiring full time workers, they just hire more people and keep them at part time hours so they don't have to provide benefits.

[Cruzincat]

From what I understand, the H1-B Visa program has language contained in it that prohibits companies from using foreign workers, with this program, to replace American workers, but the government is not enforcing it.

The fault for not enforcing it probably falls on both parties, but enforcement is the responsibility of the executive branch. We all know how reluctant this executive branch is to enforce anything that makes good sense to middle America. Just another case of the same issue.

[FBJ]

I guess this depends on the area because in 2014, several people I know here in philadelphia have found new jobs that were full-time with benefits.

[Boris347]

Originally Posted by woxyroxme

Obamacare is what is keeping companies from hiring full time workers, they just hire more people and keep them at part time hours so they don't have to provide benefits.

Not so. The companies that do that, never provided and benefits to start with, even before the Health Act. The Companies that did provide Health Care, still do. People that never gave health care, did it because they wanted to keep the money it would cost them. Its called "Greed." Many Companies I have worked for did provide Health Care, and where not forced to do it. They did it because they cared about their workers, and where not greedy. The "New" excuse for being Greedy is "Obama Care Made Me Do It."

Also, a lot of people did not go back to Jobs, because they found out they can live off the Government, and don't have to work anymore.

You also can't discount the influx of Millions of Illegal Aliens, that are taking jobs Americans would have. They work for less, work better, and are easier to manipulate. The fault for that goes to employers. They get to keep more money and get more done with no benefits for workers at all. Greed again. Of course they will tell you that its jobs Americans won't take, but look around you, and you will see that's as big a lie as anyone has ever heard.

[Boris347]

Originally Posted by Cruzincat

From what I understand, the H1-B Visa program has language contained in it that prohibits companies from using foreign workers, with this program, to replace American workers, but the government is not enforcing it.

The fault for not enforcing it probably falls on both parties, but enforcement is the responsibility of the executive branch. We all know how reluctant this executive branch is to enforce anything that makes good sense to middle America. Just another case of the same issue.

Neither side is going to enforce it. The Democrats want to give every Criminal that crossed our borders illegally a free pass, and the GOP wants them here because the rich love their cheap labor, although they will deny it. They had 8 years to do something about Illegal Aliens, and did nothing.