Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Regardless of the amount of families/people leaving this state one thing is clear: a shift is occurring in our economy and people are seeing that. As our manufacturing base continues to shrink, I think people are realizing that other states/areas of the country are firmly connected with historically higher paying and more recession proof industries, (biotech, pharma, IT, wind,solar). This isn't my official hypothesis as to why the large amount of people continue to leave, although the amount of college graduates leaving suggests to me that most recognize that Michigan will have a very difficult time being a contender in the post/manufacturing era. Not only will it take time to repair our economy, it will also take an educated workforce that continues to leave our state in droves. Its no argument that the current recession has affected the entire nation, but it has shown just how weak the Michigan economy is compared to the rest of the nation. I do think the "real" rate of unemployment is much higher than 12.6%, those who were unemployed before the national recession are now caught in something even more horrific and have given up completely. That and (according to BLS.gov) the unemployment rate of those 16-19 years of age is reaching 25% nationally. This is, in a way, sort of a "natural selection" of our workforce, those with the most skills, experience and education will find work, while those (unfortunately younger people) with less experience and education will suffer. Its nearly impossible to predict the outcome of our recession, but until the fate of our manufacturing sector is known, things will continue to go south.
Michigan's long standing recession however does not put us in the front of the line when the economy begins to turn, our success as a state relies on many missing ingredients that other states already posses, leaving us in the dark for a while....until we can reinvent ourselves.
Sorry for the boo hiss post, I just wanted to kick and scream like the rest of the kids!
Regardless of the amount of families/people leaving this state one thing is clear: a shift is occurring in our economy and people are seeing that. As our manufacturing base continues to shrink, I think people are realizing that other states/areas of the country are firmly connected with historically higher paying and more recession proof industries, (biotech, pharma, IT, wind,solar). This isn't my official hypothesis as to why the large amount of people continue to leave, although the amount of college graduates leaving suggests to me that most recognize that Michigan will have a very difficult time being a contender in the post/manufacturing era. Not only will it take time to repair our economy, it will also take an educated workforce that continues to leave our state in droves. Its no argument that the current recession has affected the entire nation, but it has shown just how weak the Michigan economy is compared to the rest of the nation. I do think the "real" rate of unemployment is much higher than 12.6%, those who were unemployed before the national recession are now caught in something even more horrific and have given up completely. That and (according to BLS.gov) the unemployment rate of those 16-19 years of age is reaching 25% nationally. This is, in a way, sort of a "natural selection" of our workforce, those with the most skills, experience and education will find work, while those (unfortunately younger people) with less experience and education will suffer. Its nearly impossible to predict the outcome of our recession, but until the fate of our manufacturing sector is known, things will continue to go south.
Michigan's long standing recession however does not put us in the front of the line when the economy begins to turn, our success as a state relies on many missing ingredients that other states already posses, leaving us in the dark for a while....until we can reinvent ourselves.
Sorry for the boo hiss post, I just wanted to kick and scream like the rest of the kids!
You are very right. Our long term recession will take even longer than the rest of the country to turn around. We relied too much on one industry and that industry will not recover enough to turn the state around.
You're also right about needing an educated work force but seeing that work force leave the state. It's hard to find work elsewhere. It's impossible here. If my school doesn't renew my contract (and I have a feeling they won't due to seniority issues) I'll be joining the unemployed again. Took me 10 months to find this job and now things are worse
It's a catch 22. You can't attract high tech industries without an educated work force but that educated work force won't stay without high tech industry. I don't blame kids for leaving. Between the lack of jobs, an unstable housing market and the reality that we'll be on the tail end of an economic turn around, or miss it alltogether like we did the last one the country enjoyed, other places look a lot better.
Regardless of the amount of families/people leaving this state one thing is clear: a shift is occurring in our economy and people are seeing that. As our manufacturing base continues to shrink, I think people are realizing that other states/areas of the country are firmly connected with historically higher paying and more recession proof industries, (biotech, pharma, IT, wind,solar). This isn't my official hypothesis as to why the large amount of people continue to leave, although the amount of college graduates leaving suggests to me that most recognize that Michigan will have a very difficult time being a contender in the post/manufacturing era. Not only will it take time to repair our economy, it will also take an educated workforce that continues to leave our state in droves. Its no argument that the current recession has affected the entire nation, but it has shown just how weak the Michigan economy is compared to the rest of the nation. I do think the "real" rate of unemployment is much higher than 12.6%, those who were unemployed before the national recession are now caught in something even more horrific and have given up completely. That and (according to BLS.gov) the unemployment rate of those 16-19 years of age is reaching 25% nationally. This is, in a way, sort of a "natural selection" of our workforce, those with the most skills, experience and education will find work, while those (unfortunately younger people) with less experience and education will suffer. Its nearly impossible to predict the outcome of our recession, but until the fate of our manufacturing sector is known, things will continue to go south.
Michigan's long standing recession however does not put us in the front of the line when the economy begins to turn, our success as a state relies on many missing ingredients that other states already posses, leaving us in the dark for a while....until we can reinvent ourselves.
Sorry for the boo hiss post, I just wanted to kick and scream like the rest of the kids!
You are absolutely right on all counts! I hear so many people say that Michigan's at the front of the line when the economy comes back since we were the first ones in the recession and I think that's absoutely untrue - it doesn't work that way. The reason we were the first ones in the recession is a combination of factors that has not changed, particularly our state's over-reliance on one industry and our historic status as a manufacturing state (and manufacturing in the US is going the way of the dinosaur...whether or not this is a good thing depends on your view, but until the tide of globalization reverses those jobs aren't likely to come back). I still know far too many people in their 20s who are bypassing college altogether, not learning any type of trade, but instead clinging to the belief that they can get a manufacturing job. Not only does industry in this state need to catch up with the times, but so do many of its people.
Similarly, our Governor is dead wrong in saying that we need more adults with a college education. Well, she's half right: we do indeed need a more educated workforce, because the perception still exists that MI is an unappealing state for companies to set up business due to both the education level of our workforce and our reliance on unions, but until the jobs are here for the adults with college educations, it will continue to be the case that our state's greatest export will be college-educated young people. I know very, very few people with college educations who are doing well in this state, particularly outside of the health care field. We need to have the jobs here for college educated workers (like me!!!) to get us to stick around...until those jobs exist, other states are more likely to benefit from it when MI invests money in higher education. When the economy does bounce back nationwide, I suspect other states will recover much faster than Michigan and the people like me who are having trouble finding work in other states will have a much easier time again - thus once again increasing the number of people leaving the state.
michigan is killing business' with it's business tax,how or why they won't model a business concept after a more business-friendly progressive enviroment is beyond me,to much of these 19th economics logic hampering things here
michigan is killing business' with it's business tax,how or why they won't model a business concept after a more business-friendly progressive enviroment is beyond me,to much of these 19th economics logic hampering things here
It's a state thing when you consider we have the highest unemployment rate in the country. We started losing jobs before the rest of the country and did it faster than the rest of the country. That we slowed to the same pace as the rest of the country in March only means we keep our place as the state with the highest unemployment rate.
To a certain extent, yes, but I think a lot of people would rather point fingers than to recognize the sad reality that there were too many jobs in Michigan (particularly in the auto industry and manufacturing) and that as a result, people had to lose jobs, including those in the service industries supported by the tax base, which includes some jobs that require significant education. Some people are going to have to leave. I think it's going to be difficult to cut manufacturing jobs at the rate they've been cut over the past five or so years in Michigan (simply because so many of them are gone,) and the 500 or so high-tech jobs that come around every so often will no longer be dwarfed by the 3000 layoffs of a plant closure.
Originally posted by wanderer74
Similarly, our Governor is dead wrong in saying that we need more adults with a college education. Well, she's half right: we do indeed need a more educated workforce, because the perception still exists that MI is an unappealing state for companies to set up business due to both the education level of our workforce and our reliance on unions, but until the jobs are here for the adults with college educations, it will continue to be the case that our state's greatest export will be college-educated young people. I know very, very few people with college educations who are doing well in this state, particularly outside of the health care field. We need to have the jobs here for college educated workers (like me!!!) to get us to stick around...until those jobs exist, other states are more likely to benefit from it when MI invests money in higher education. When the economy does bounce back nationwide, I suspect other states will recover much faster than Michigan and the people like me who are having trouble finding work in other states will have a much easier time again - thus once again increasing the number of people leaving the state.
You are SO right--I'm a certified teacher and in the two years since I graduated (and went back to school) I've had only ONE job interview--and that was for a part time teaching job. This spring I'm looking out and not even considering working in MI.
I'm a college educated guy who would stay if there were jobs. I like MI, and my family's here. But Granholm opposed the buyout bill for teachers this year, blowing another opportunity for young people to stay here. I always thought I'd come back in a few years, but seeing the asinine mindset our leaders and others have, I don't think I will. I'll return only if other people start returning too. No way I'm coming back her just to risk getting laid off.
AS to teaching jobs in Michigan....many school districts are offering buyouts for their teachers; however, they are not hiring because they can cover these positions through attrition as most districts have a population decline. Service jobs are affected as well through population decline. My sister is an RN who still lives in Michigan. She says that many of the hospitals are cutting their nurses to save costs. Hospitals throughout Michigan have been swamped with the indigent that are unemployed. Less people employed means less people with insurance benefits to pay the hospital bills. Nursing homes are seeing a decline in their clients. It's more fiscally adventageous to take care of mom or dad at home if you're unemployed than to let the Soc. Security check go to the nursing home. All of these actions means less jobs available in the healthcare field. I've read articles where doctors are now leaving Michigan as they cannot take in enough in insurance payments to offset the costs of running their practices. Whenever a family leaves Michigan...they take all the revenue with them that would have gone to the doctor, the dentist, the grocery store, the car dealership, the schools....I believe the unemployment rate in Michigan is much higher than the 12.6 %.
You are SO right--I'm a certified teacher and in the two years since I graduated (and went back to school) I've had only ONE job interview--and that was for a part time teaching job. This spring I'm looking out and not even considering working in MI.
I'm a college educated guy who would stay if there were jobs. I like MI, and my family's here. But Granholm opposed the buyout bill for teachers this year, blowing another opportunity for young people to stay here. I always thought I'd come back in a few years, but seeing the asinine mindset our leaders and others have, I don't think I will. I'll return only if other people start returning too. No way I'm coming back her just to risk getting laid off.
Good luck. I'm a certified teacher too. I was able to find a position in a charter school this year but they're cutting teachers for next year so I'll be back on the street in two months.
I wish I could leave the state. When I graduated, last summer, that's what U of M told us to do. Things look even more dismal this year.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
