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Correct, anicdotally the level of underemployment in this nation is quite high. The crux of the issue is that underemployment is not measured but based on various articles I have read it is fairly non-trivial.
It also lights a fire under peoples butts to go become physicians or engineers, etc because the mcjobs would be drying up. But instead they are expanding ... at an unsettling rate.
Ok, do you have evidence of physicians and software engineers working behind the counter at McDonalds, or is that just a fantasy that fits with your narrative?
Are you envisioning physicians, software engineers, and other professionals working behind a “mccounter” or is there some other type of waste that you’re talking about?
Many fields that are currently skilled are going be taking huge hits as more sophisticated AI and automation occur.
Correct, anicdotally the level of underemployment in this nation is quite high. The crux of the issue is that underemployment is not measured but based on various articles I have read it is fairly non-trivial.
It also lights a fire under peoples butts to go become physicians or engineers, etc because the mcjobs would be drying up. But instead they are expanding ... at an unsettling rate.
Colleges are already churning out STEM graduates (including engineers) at a rate of two to three for every available job. I left engineering because I couldn't find work. That was 20 years ago.
Colleges are already churning out STEM graduates (including engineers) at a rate of two to three for every available job. I left engineering because I couldn't find work. That was 20 years ago.
One of the issues is that people refuse to leave the field they were trained in, and end up un/underemployed. If you are flexible, you can turn almost any numerate degree into a great career outside the original field of study.
One of the issues is that people refuse to leave the field they were trained in, and end up un/underemployed. If you are flexible, you can turn almost any numerate degree into a great career outside the original field of study.
I found no particular demand for my degree--and I was willing to transfer anywhere. Every numerate-type job listing required credentials and a long list of requirements I had no way of obtaining, other than to start over again on another degree.
Why don't you start a consulting business to tell them that? You could charge them, say, $5,000 each. You deliver a report titled, "You Need To Get On With It."
Then you are ok with mass numbers of homeless and poo everywhere. Where is everyone suppose to work when everything is off shored.
Just off-shore the excess people. Let's start with government employees, shall we? There is no particular reason most government jobs need to be on-shore. They could be just as effective being off-shore, right?
Correct, anicdotally the level of underemployment in this nation is quite high. The crux of the issue is that underemployment is not measured but based on various articles I have read it is fairly non-trivial.
Data exists for both underemployed and for discouraged workers, in addition to straight unemployment.
Six alternative measures of labor underutilization have long been available on a monthly basis from the Current Population Survey (CPS) for the United States and are published in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly Employment Situation news release.
Official unemployment is U-3 in the U-1 to U-6 range of alternative measures. It includes all jobless persons who are available to take a job and have actively sought work in the past four weeks. This metric has been thoroughly reviewed and validated since its inception in 1940.
The BLS also provides more narrowly (U-1 and U-2) or broadly (U-4 through U-6) defined measures for research purposes (mostly for academics).
U-1, persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force;
U-2, job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force;
U-3, total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (this is the definition used for the official unemployment rate);
U-4, total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers;
U-5, total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other marginally attached workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers; and
U-6, total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.
Discouraged workers that are part of U-4, U-5, and U-6 are persons who are not in the labor force, want and are available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They are not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the prior 4 weeks, for the specific reason that they believed no jobs were available for them.
The marginally attached that are part of U-5 and U-6 are a group that includes discouraged workers. The criteria for the marginally attached are the same as for discouraged workers, with the exception that any reason could have been cited for the lack of job search in the prior 4 weeks.
Persons employed part time for economic reasons, included as part of the U-6 measure, are those working less than 35 hours per week who want to work full time, are available to do so, and gave an economic reason (their hours had been cut back or they were unable to find a full-time job) for working part time. These individuals are sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers.
Generally, all six measures of labor underutilization move together over time, including across business cycles.
So what do the actual data show?
The benefits of economic growth are accruing for the less skilled or formerly jobless. The number of Americans who were marginally attached to the labor force—i.e., those able to work but who are not actively seeking employment—fell by 432,000 from last November to 1.2 million. That’s a whopping 27% year-over-year decline.
About 460,000 fewer workers are employed part-time for economic reasons than a year ago. More than 80% of folks who work part time do so for non-economic reasons, and the share has been increasing as the economy has gained strength. Second earners in two-income households have the luxury to work less when their spouses are earning more.
Underemployed, discouraged, marginally attached, and involuntarily part-time measures are lower than they have been in generations.
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